3 ¹ And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, “Son of man, go, get you 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. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart. ⁸ Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. ⁹ Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go, get you to the exiles, to your people, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Ezekiel at the River Chebar

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord arose^[a] from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake; ¹³ it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a great earthquake. ¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me;