Ezekiel 2

¹¹He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling.

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

¹“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

⁴Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

¹“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

²⁴Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

²⁶Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp.

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His dwelling place!”

¹¹But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them.

²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord upon me.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

⁸Just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

²⁴You have been rebelling against the Lord since the day I came to know you.

⁵we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

⁶We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

¹⁵Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

³“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁴And the Lord has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.

⁷But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

¹⁵Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the Lord.

⁸do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,

⁴For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

³O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel.

³³So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

¹²As you enter the home, greet its occupants.

¹³If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it, but if it is not, let your peace return to you.

⁷But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.

¹⁰But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,

¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.

¹²“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

¹⁷Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.

²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the Lord.

¹⁰“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.

⁷But the Lord told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.

⁵And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

¹⁷Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.

⁹And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.

⁵The Lord God has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

²So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

¹⁰“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders.

¹⁵Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

³He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

¹Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.

²And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”

¹⁰Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

²“Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.

¹³And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”

⁸Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

⁹These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s instruction.

¹¹Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

²⁹You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’

³⁰Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night.

¹²The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.

¹⁴The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.