Lamentations 5 - Ezekiel 1

New International Version

5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
    look, and see our disgrace.^(A)
²Our inheritance^(B) has been turned over to strangers,^(C)
    our homes^(D) to foreigners.^(E)
³We have become fatherless,
    our mothers are widows.^(F)
⁴We must buy the water we drink;^(G)
    our wood can be had only at a price.^(H)
⁵Those who pursue us are at our heels;
    we are weary^(I) and find no rest.^(J)
⁶We submitted to Egypt and Assyria^(K)
    to get enough bread.
⁷Our ancestors^(L) sinned and are no more,
    and we bear their punishment.^(M)
⁸Slaves^(N) rule over us,
    and there is no one to free us from their hands.^(O)
⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives
    because of the sword in the desert.
¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.^(P)
¹¹Women have been violated^(Q) in Zion,
    and virgins in the towns of Judah.
¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands;
    elders^(R) are shown no respect.^(S)
¹³Young men toil at the millstones;
    boys stagger under loads of wood.
¹⁴The elders are gone from the city gate;
    the young men have stopped their music.^(T)
¹⁵Joy is gone from our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.^(U)
¹⁶The crown^(V) has fallen from our head.^(W)
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!^(X)
¹⁷Because of this our hearts^(Y) are faint,^(Z)
    because of these things our eyes^(AA) grow dim^(AB)
¹⁸for Mount Zion,^(AC) which lies desolate,^(AD)
    with jackals prowling over it.

¹⁹You, Lord, reign forever;^(AE)
    your throne endures^(AF) from generation to generation.
²⁰Why do you always forget us?^(AG)
    Why do you forsake^(AH) us so long?
²¹Restore^(AI) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
    renew our days as of old
²²unless you have utterly rejected us^(AJ)
    and are angry with us beyond measure.^(AK)

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision

1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles^(AL) by the Kebar River,^(AM) the heavens were opened^(AN) and I saw visions^(AO) of God.

²On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin^(AP)— ³the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel^(AQ) the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.^[a] There the hand of the Lord was on him.^(AR)

⁴I looked, and I saw a windstorm^(AS) coming out of the north^(AT)—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,^(AU) ⁵and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.^(AV) In appearance their form was human,^(AW) ⁶but each of them had four faces^(AX) and four wings. ⁷Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.^(AY) ⁸Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands.^(AZ) All four of them had faces and wings, ⁹and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.^(BA)

¹⁰Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.^(BB) ¹¹Such were their faces. They each had two wings^(BC) spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. ¹²Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.^(BD) ¹³The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals^(BE) of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning^(BF) flashed out of it. ¹⁴The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.^(BG)

¹⁵As I looked at the living creatures,^(BH) I saw a wheel^(BI) on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. ¹⁶This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz,^(BJ) and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. ¹⁷As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction^(BK) as the creatures went. ¹⁸Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes^(BL) all around.

¹⁹When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. ²⁰Wherever the spirit would go, they would go,^(BM) and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.^(BN)

²²Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault,^(BO) sparkling like crystal, and awesome. ²³Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. ²⁴When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing^(BP) waters, like the voice^(BQ) of the Almighty,^[b] like the tumult of an army.^(BR) When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne^(BS) of lapis lazuli,^(BT) and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.^(BU) ²⁷I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.^(BV) ²⁸Like the appearance of a rainbow^(BW) in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.^(BX)