In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down — on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.
In the twenty-fifth year of exile, on the very day marked in the vision, the hand of the LORD comes upon Ezekiel and takes him there.
This verse dates and solemnly introduces the temple vision.
1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down — on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there. 2In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city. 3So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”