Ezekiel’s Vision of a Scroll

2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up, and I will speak to you.” ² As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me, stood me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³ He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They are people from a nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have rebelled against me to this day. ⁴ I am sending you to these defiant and stubborn children. Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says.’ ⁵ Whether these rebellious people listen or not, they will realize that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ Son of man, don’t be afraid of them or the things they say. Don’t be afraid, even though thorns and thistles are around you and you live among scorpions. Don’t let the things they say frighten you. Don’t be terrified in their presence, even though they are rebellious people. ⁷ Speak my words to them whether they listen or not, because they are rebellious. ⁸ But you, son of man, listen to what I say. Don’t be rebellious like those rebellious people. Open your mouth, and eat what I am giving to you.”

⁹ As I looked, I saw a hand stretched out toward me. In it was a scroll. ¹⁰ He spread the scroll in front of me. There was writing on the front and back. There were funeral songs, songs of mourning, and horrible things written on it.

3 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll. Then speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I’m giving you, and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them. ⁵ I am not sending you to people whose language is hard to understand or difficult to speak. I am sending you to Israel. ⁶ I am not sending you to nations whose language is hard to understand, difficult to speak, or whose words you cannot understand. If I send you to those nations, they will certainly listen to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to me. All the people of Israel are very stubborn and hardheaded. ⁸ Yet, I will make you as stubborn and as hardheaded as they are. ⁹ I will make you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be terrified in their presence, even though they are rebellious people.”

¹⁰ He also said to me, “Son of man, take to heart everything I have spoken to you, and listen closely. ¹¹ Go to the exiles, to your people. Whether they listen or not, tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says.’ ”

God’s Anger against Sinful Humanity

¹⁸ God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. ¹⁹ What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. ²⁰ From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. ²¹ They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. ²² While claiming to be wise, they became fools. ²³ They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for statues that looked like mortal humans, birds, animals, and snakes.

²⁴ For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other. ²⁵ These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen!

²⁶ For this reason God allowed their shameful passions to control them. Their women have exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ Likewise, their men have given up natural sexual relations with women and burn with lust for each other. Men commit indecent acts with men, so they experience among themselves the punishment they deserve for their perversion.

²⁸ And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things. ²⁹ Their lives are filled with all kinds of sexual sins, wickedness, and greed. They are mean. They are filled with envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, haughty, arrogant, and boastful. They think up new ways to be cruel. They don’t obey their parents, ³¹ don’t have any sense, don’t keep promises, and don’t show love to their own families or mercy to others. ³² Although they know God’s judgment that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do these things but also approve of others who do them.