The Call of Ezekiel to Speak God’s Words

2 And he said to me, “Son of man,a stand on your feet, so that I can speak with you.” 2 And the Spiritb came into me as he was speaking to me, and it set me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man,c I am sending you to the ⌊Israelites⌋,d to nationse who are rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors,f they transgressed against me ⌊until this very day⌋.g 4 And the childrenh are ⌊impudent⌋i and ⌊stubborn⌋,j and so I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ 5 And they, whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst. 6 And you, son of man,k you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, becausel briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their ⌊looks⌋,m for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 And you, son of man,n hear what I am speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you.” 9 And I looked,o and look! There was a hand stretched out to me, and look! In it was ⌊a scroll with writing⌋.p 10 And he rolled it outq ⌊before me⌋,r and it was written on the front and back, and there were written on it laments and mourning and wailing.s

3 And he said to me, “Son of man,a what you find, eat! Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 And I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat, 3 and he said to me, “Son of man,b you must give your stomach this to eat, and you must fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving to you.” And I ate, and it became ⌊like sweet honey⌋c in my mouth. 4 And he said to me, “Son of man,d come! Go to the house of Israel, and you must speak to them with my words. 5 For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people ⌊of obscure speech⌋e and ⌊of a difficult language⌋,f 6 and not to many nations ⌊of obscure speech⌋g and ⌊a difficult language⌋h ⌊whose words⌋i you do not understand, for if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you. 7 And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they are hard of heart. 8 But look, I have madej your face hard ⌊against⌋k their faces and your forehead hard ⌊against⌋l their forehead. 9 Like a diamond ⌊harder than flint⌋m I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed ⌊on account of them⌋,n for they ⌊are a rebellious house⌋.o 10 And he said to me, “Son of man,p all of my words that I shall speak to you, receive intoq your heart and hear with your ears. 11 And come, go to the exiles,r to the childrens of your people, and you must speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ whether they listen or whether they fail to listen.” 12 And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake when the glory of Yahweh rose from its place. 13 And it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching lightlyt ⌊one against the other⌋,u and the sound of the wheels beside them and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 And the Spirit lifted me and took me, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15 And I went to the exilesv at Tel Abib, who were dwelling near the ⌊Kebar River⌋,w and I sat where they were dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned.