Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet

2 He said to me, “Son of man,^[a](A) stand^(B) up on your feet and I will speak to you.^(C)” ² As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me^(D) to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³ 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.^{(E) 4} The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.^(F) Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^{(G) 5} And whether they listen or fail to listen^(H)—for they are a rebellious people^(I)—they will know that a prophet has been among them.^{(J) 6} And you, son of man, do not be afraid^(K) of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns^(L) 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.^{(M) 7} You must speak^(N) my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.^{(O) 8} But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel^(P) like that rebellious people;^(Q) open your mouth and eat^(R) what I give you.”

⁹ Then I looked, and I saw a hand^(S) stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,^{(T) 10} which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.^(U)

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,^(A) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world^(B) rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness^(C) of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head^(D) over every power and authority.^{(E) 11} In him you were also circumcised^(F) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^[b](G) was put off when you were circumcised by^[c] Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism,^(H) in which you were also raised with him^(I) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^(J)

¹³ When you were dead in your sins^(K) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[d] alive^(L) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,^{(M) 14} having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,^(N) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.^{(O) 15} And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^(P) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^(Q) by the cross.^[e]

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(R) by what you eat or drink,^(S) or with regard to a religious festival,^(T) a New Moon celebration^(U) or a Sabbath day.^{(V) 17} These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(W) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(X) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(Y) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹ They have lost connection with the head,^(Z) from whom the whole body,^(AA) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(AB)

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate^(A) it, and it tasted as sweet as honey^(B) in my mouth.

⁴ He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.^{(C) 5} You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,^(D) but to the people of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.^{(E) 7} But the people of Israel are not willing to listen^(F) to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.^{(G) 8} But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.^{(H) 9} I will make your forehead^(I) like the hardest stone, harder than flint.^(J) Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^(K)”

¹⁰ And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart^(L) all the words I speak to you. ¹¹ Go^(M) now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’^(N) whether they listen or fail to listen.^(O)”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up,^(P) and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.^{[a] 13} It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures^(Q) brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.^{(R) 14} The Spirit^(S) then lifted me up^(T) and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^(U) on me.

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am^(A) the true vine,^(B) and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,^(C) while every branch that does bear fruit^(D) he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.^{(E) 4} Remain in me, as I also remain in you.^(F) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;^(G) apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.^{(H) 7} If you remain in me^(I) and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^{(J) 8} This is to my Father’s glory,^(K) that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.^(L)

⁹ “As the Father has loved me,^(M) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands,^(N) you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^{(O) 12} My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.^{(P) 13} Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^{(Q) 14} You are my friends^(R) if you do what I command.^{(S) 15} I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.^{(T) 16} You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you^(U) so that you might go and bear fruit^(V)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.^{(W) 17} This is my command: Love each other.^(X)

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ “If the world hates you,^(Y) keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you^(Z) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.^{(AA) 20} Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[b](AB) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.^(AC) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name,^(AD) for they do not know the one who sent me.^{(AE) 22} If I had not come and spoken to them,^(AF) they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.^{(AG) 23} Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did,^(AH) they would not be guilty of sin.^(AI) As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:^(AJ) ‘They hated me without reason.’^[c](AK)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ “When the Advocate^(AL) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father^(AM)—the Spirit of truth^(AN) who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.^{(AO) 27} And you also must testify,^(AP) for you have been with me from the beginning.^(AQ)