Through My Bible Yr 02 – May 19

Ezekiel’s Call

Ezekiel 2

¹ He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² The Spirit entered into me as he spoke to me and brought me up to my feet. Then I heard him speaking to me.

³ He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, ^[1] to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. ⁴ These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says. ⁵ Then, whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you are living with scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, and do not be intimidated by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ You are to speak my words to them whether they listen or they do not, for they are rebellious. ⁸ But you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

⁹ Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me, and in it there was a rolled-up scroll. ¹⁰ He unrolled it in front of me, and there was writing on both sides. Written on it was: Laments, Groaning, and Woe.

Ezekiel 3

¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat what you have received. Eat this scroll, and then go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate, and in my mouth it was sweet like honey.

⁴ He then said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵ For you are not being sent to a people who have incomprehensible speech or a difficult language, but you are being sent to the house of Israel. ⁶ Nor are you being sent to many peoples who have incomprehensible speech and difficult languages, whose words you cannot understand. Certainly, if I were to send you to such people, they would listen to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, because the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ⁸ Look, I have made your face just as hard as their faces and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ I have made your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not fear them, and do not be intimidated by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰ Then he said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I will speak to you, and hear them with your ears. ¹¹ Go now to the exiles, to your own people. ^[2] You shall speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or they do not.”

¹² Then the Spirit ^[3] lifted me up, and I heard a loud rushing sound behind me—Blessed be the Glory of the Lord in its dwelling place!— ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures beating against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. ¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and so I went, bitter and heated in my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was upon me with power. ¹⁵ I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv, who were living by the Kebar Canal—there where they were living. ^[4] I sat among them for seven days—stunned.

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me and said: