The Coals of Fire

10 Then I looked and saw the sky above the heads of the living creatures. I saw something like a sapphire gem. It looked like a throne. ² The Lord said to the man dressed in linen, “Go in between the wheels under the living creatures. And fill your hands with coals of fire from between the living creatures. Scatter the coals over the city.”

As I watched, the man with linen clothes went in. ³ Now the living creatures were standing on the south side of the Temple when the man went in. And the cloud from the Lord filled the inner courtyard. ⁴ Then the glory of the Lord went up from the living creatures. And it stood over the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with the cloud. And the courtyard was full of the brightness from the glory of the Lord. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the living creatures was heard all the way to the outer courtyard. It was like the voice of God All-Powerful when he speaks.

⁶ The Lord commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from between the wheels, from between the living creatures.” Then the man went in and stood by a wheel. ⁷ One living creature put out his hand to the fire that was among them. The living creature took some of the fire. And he put it in the hands of the man dressed in linen. The man took the fire and went out.

The Wheels and the Creatures

⁸ Something that looked like a man’s hand appeared under the wings of the living creatures. ⁹ I saw the four wheels by the living creatures. One wheel was by each living creature. The wheels looked like shining chrysolite. ¹⁰ All four wheels looked alike. Each looked like a wheel crossways inside another wheel. ¹¹ When the wheels moved, they went in any of the directions that the four living creatures faced. The wheels did not turn about. The living creatures did not turn their bodies as they went. But they followed wherever their faces pointed. ¹² All their bodies, their backs, hands, wings and the wheels were full of eyes all over. Now each of the four living creatures had a wheel. ¹³ I heard the wheels being called “whirling wheels.” ¹⁴ Each living creature had four faces. The first face was the face of a creature with wings. The second face was the face of a man. The third was the face of a lion. And the fourth was the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ The living creatures flew up. They were the same living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. ¹⁶ And when the living creatures moved, the wheels moved by their sides. The living creatures lifted their wings to fly up from the ground. And the wheels did not leave their sides. ¹⁷ When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the creatures went up, the wheels went up also. This was because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord left the door of the Temple and stood over the living creatures. ¹⁹ The living creatures spread their wings. And they flew up from the ground while I watched. As they went up, the wheels stayed by their sides. They stood where the east gate of the Temple of the Lord opened. The glory of the God of Israel was over them.

²⁰ These are the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel. This was by the Kebar River. I knew they were called cherubim. ²¹ Each one had four faces. Each one had four wings. Things that looked like a man’s hands were under their wings. ²² Their faces looked the same as the ones I had seen by the Kebar River. They each went straight ahead.