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The Vision of the Scroll

He said to me: “O mortal,[a] stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.”(A) And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.(B) He said to me, “Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation[b] of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day.(C) The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’(D) Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.(E) And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.(F) You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.(G)

“But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”(H) I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it.(I) 10 He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Footnotes

  1. 2.1 Heb son of man (and so throughout the book when Ezekiel is addressed)
  2. 2.3 Syr: Heb to nations

Ezekiel’s Call and Commission

“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! Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”

Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, 10 which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.