God chooses Ezekiel to be his messenger

2 The voice said to me, ‘Son of man, you must stand up on your feet. Then I will speak to you.’ ² A spirit came into me while he spoke.^[a] He made me stand up and I heard him speak to me.

³ He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to Israel's people. They are a nation of people who have turned against me. They and their ancestors have refused to obey me, even until today. ⁴ I am sending you to speak to these people. They do not accept my authority and they refuse to change. But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says.”

⁵ The Israelites may listen to what you say, or they may not listen. They do not want to obey me. But they will know that I have sent a prophet to them. ⁶ You must not be afraid of them, son of man. Do not be afraid of their words either. It may seem that you are living with thorn bushes all around you. You may think that they can hurt you like dangerous scorpions. But do not be afraid of what they say to you, or how they look at you. Remember that they refuse to obey me. ⁷ You must speak my words to them, whether they listen to you or not. They are people who refuse to obey me. ⁸ But you must listen to what I say to you, son of man. Do not refuse to obey me, as those people refuse to obey me. Open your mouth and eat what I will give to you.’

⁹ When I looked, I saw a hand! It held out a scroll towards me.^{[b] 10} He opened the scroll so that I could see inside it. I saw words that were written on both sides of the scroll. There were sad funeral songs, and words about great trouble that make you weep.