Ezekiel 2

1 He said to me, “You human, stand up while I speak to you.”

This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking. And he said to me: “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

2 While he spoke to me, [God’s] Spirit entered me and enabled me to stand up. Then I heard him speak to me.

And after this was spoken to me, the Spirit entered into me, and he set me on my feet. And I heard him speaking to me,

3 He said, “You human, I will send you to the Israeli people. They are people who have turned away from me and rebelled against me. Their ancestors rebelled against me, and they themselves are still rebelling against me.

and saying: “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to an apostate nation, which has withdrawn from me. They and their fathers have betrayed my covenant, even to this day.

4 The people to whom I will send you are very stubborn [DOU]. But say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you.’

And those to whom I am sending you are sons with a hard face and an unyielding heart. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

5 [when you tell them my messages], perhaps those rebellious people will heed those messages and perhaps they will not heed them, but they will know [you are] a prophet who has been among them.

Perhaps it may be that they will hear, and perhaps they may be quieted. For they are a provoking house. And they shall know that there has been a prophet in their midst.

6 And you human, you must not be afraid of them or afraid of what they say. [Living among them will be like] living in the midst of briers or scorpions, but do not be afraid of them. They are rebellious people [MTY], but do not allow them to cause you to become afraid.

But as for you, son of man, you should not fear them, and you should not dread their words. For you are among unbelievers and subversives, and you are living with scorpions. You should not fear their words, and you should not dread their faces. For they are a provoking house.

7 Tell them my message, but do not expect them to pay attention to it, because they [very] rebellious.

Therefore, you shall speak my words to them, so that perhaps they may hear and be quieted. For they are provoking.

8 But human, you must pay attention to what I say. Do not be rebellious like they are. [Now] open your mouth and eat what I give to you.”

But as for you, son of man, listen to all that I say to you. And do not choose to be provoking, as that house is a provoker. Open your mouth, and eat whatever I give to you.”

9 Then, as I watched, I saw his hand that was stretched toward me. In his hand was a scroll.

And I looked, and behold: a hand was put forth toward me; there was a scroll rolled up in it.

10 He unrolled the scroll. On both sides of it were written words that expressed sorrow and mourning and words about trouble/disaster.

And he spread it out before me, and there was writing on the inside and on the outside. And there were written in it lamentations, and verses, and woes.