Ezekiel's Call

2 And he said to me, ^(A)“Son of man,^{[a] (B)}stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And as he spoke to me, ^(C)the Spirit entered into me and ^(D)set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to ^(E)nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. ^(F)They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴ The descendants also are ^(G)impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ⁵ And ^(H)whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ^(I)a rebellious house) ^(J)they will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, ^(K)be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, ^(L)though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on ^(M)scorpions.^[b] Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you shall speak my words to them, ^(N)whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^(O)Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^(P)eat what I give you.” ⁹ And when I looked, behold, ^(Q)a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^(R)a scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰ And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^(S)on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3 And he said to me, ^(T)“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^(U)Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^(V)Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^(W)as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, ^(X)“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^(Y)Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ^7 (Z)But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^(AA)have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ^8 (AB)Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^(AC)emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^(AD)Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^(AE)all my words that I shall speak to you receive ^(AF)in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go to the exiles, ^(AG)to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(AH)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^(AI)whether they hear or refuse to hear.”