Ezekiel 2:1-3:15

New International Version

Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet

2 He said to me, “Son of man,^[a](A) stand^(B) up on your feet and I will speak to you.^(C)” ² As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me^(D) to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³ He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.^{(E) 4} The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.^(F) Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^{(G) 5} And whether they listen or fail to listen^(H)—for they are a rebellious people^(I)—they will know that a prophet has been among them.^{(J) 6} And you, son of man, do not be afraid^(K) of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns^(L) are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^{(M) 7} You must speak^(N) my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.^{(O) 8} But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel^(P) like that rebellious people;^(Q) open your mouth and eat^(R) what I give you.”

⁹ Then I looked, and I saw a hand^(S) stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,^{(T) 10} which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.^(U)

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate^(V) it, and it tasted as sweet as honey^(W) in my mouth.

⁴ He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.^{(X) 5} You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,^(Y) but to the people of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.^{(Z) 7} But the people of Israel are not willing to listen^(AA) to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.^{(AB) 8} But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.^{(AC) 9} I will make your forehead^(AD) like the hardest stone, harder than flint.^(AE) Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^(AF)”

¹⁰ And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart^(AG) all the words I speak to you. ¹¹ Go^(AH) now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’^(AI) whether they listen or fail to listen.^(AJ)”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up,^(AK) and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.^{[b] 13} It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures^(AL) brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.^{(AM) 14} The Spirit^(AN) then lifted me up^(AO) and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^(AP) on me. ¹⁵ I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.^(AQ) And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days^(AR)—deeply distressed.