^2:1He said to me, “Son of man,¹ stand on your feet and I will speak with you.” ^2:2As he spoke to me,² a wind³ came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

^2:3He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house⁴ of Israel, to rebellious nations⁵ who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted⁶ against me to this very day. ^2:4The people⁷ to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted,⁸ and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’⁹^2:5And as for them,¹⁰ whether they listen¹¹ or not—for they are a rebellious¹² house¹³—they will know that a prophet has been among them. ^2:6But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words—even though briers¹⁴ and thorns¹⁵ surround you and you live among scorpions—do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you,¹⁶ for they are a rebellious house! ^2:7You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

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Footnotes

1 The phrase son of man occurs ninety-three times in the book of Ezekiel. It simply means “human one,” and distinguishes the prophet from the nonhuman beings that are present in the world of his vision.
2 The phrase “as he spoke to me” is absent from the .
3 Or “spirit.” has “the Spirit,” but the absence of the article in the Hebrew text makes this unlikely. Elsewhere in Ezekiel the Lord’s Spirit is referred to as “the Spirit of the Lord” (11:5; 37:1), “the Spirit of God” (11:24), or “my (that is, the Lord’s) Spirit” (36:27; 37:14; 39:29). Some identify the “spirit” of 2:2 as the spirit that energized the living beings, however, that “spirit” is called “the spirit” (1:12, 20) or “the spirit of the living beings” (1:20–21; 10:17). Still others see the term as referring to an impersonal “spirit” of strength or courage, that is, the term may also be understood as a disposition or attitude. The Hebrew word often refers to a wind in Ezekiel (1:4; 5:10, 12; 12:4; 13:11, 13; 17:10, 21; 19:12; 27:26; 37:9). In 37:5–10 a “breath” originates in the “four winds” and is associated with the Lord’s life-giving breath (see v. 14). This breath enters into the dry bones and gives them life. In a similar fashion the breath of 2:2 (see also 3:24) energizes paralyzed Ezekiel. Breath and wind are related. On the one hand it is a more normal picture to think of breath rather than wind entering someone, but since wind represents an external force it seems more likely for wind rather than breath to stand someone up (unless we should understand it as a disposition). It may be that one should envision the breath of the speaker moving like a wind to revive Ezekiel, helping him to regain his breath and invigorating him to stand. A wind also transports the prophet from one place to another (3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5).
4 The Hebrew reads “sons of,” while the reads “house,” implying the more common phrase in Ezekiel. Either could be abbreviated with the first letter ב (bet). In preparation for the characterization “house of rebellion,” in vv. 5, 6, and 8, “house” is preferred (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [], 1: and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel [Hermeneia], 2:564–65).
5 Heb “to the rebellious nations.” The phrase “to the rebellious nations” is omitted in the . Elsewhere in Ezekiel the singular word “nation” is used for Israel (36:13–15; 37:22). Here “nations” may have the meaning of “tribes” or refer to the two nations of Israel and Judah.
6 This word is omitted from the . The Hebrew term used here is the strongest word available for expressing a covenant violation. The word is used in the diplomatic arena to express a treaty violation (2 Kgs 1:1; 3:5, 7).
7 Heb “sons.” The word choice may reflect treaty idiom, where the relationship between an overlord and his subjects can be described as that of father and son.
8 Heb “stern of face and hard of heart.” The phrases “stern of face” and “hard of heart” are lacking in the .
9 The phrase “thus says [the Lord]” occurs 129 times in Ezekiel; the announcement is identical to the way messengers often introduced their messages (Gen 32:5; 45:9; Exod 5:10; Num 20:14; Judg 11:15).
10 Heb “they”; the phrase “And as for them” has been used in the translation for clarity.
11 The Hebrew word implies obedience rather than mere hearing or paying attention.
12 This Hebrew adjective is also used to describe the Israelites in Num 17:25 and Isa 30:9.
13 The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26–27; 12:2–3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
14 The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.
15 The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24. Here thorns may be a figure for hostility (Ezek 28:24; Mic 7:4).
16 Heb “of their faces.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak with you.” As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the one who was speaking to me. He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this day. The descendants are obstinate and hardhearted. I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whether they listen or refuse to listen —for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

“But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them and do not be afraid of their words, even though briers and thorns are beside you and you live among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or discouraged by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house. Speak my words to them whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words. “Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.

“Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels. You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won’t listen, for they are completely rebellious!

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, so that I can speak with you.” And the Spirit came into me as he was speaking to me, and it set me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to nations who are rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors, they transgressed against me until this very day. And the children are impudent and stubborn, and so I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ 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. And you, son of man, you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because 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, for they are a rebellious house. And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

KJV 1900King James Version

And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

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