²² Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the center of the river valley, and there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the center of the valley, and suddenly there it was! The Glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the Glory that I had seen by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ But the Spirit entered into me and brought me to my feet.

Then he spoke to me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up inside your house. ²⁵ And this is what will happen to you, son of man. They will certainly place ropes upon you and tie you up with them, so that you will not be able to go out among them. ²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be speechless, and you will not be able to rebuke^[a] them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But whenever I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen. Whoever refuses to listen, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.”