Ezekiel Eats the Scroll

(Revelation 10:1–11)

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

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

3 “Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.”

So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 Then He 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 of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—6 not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7 But 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.

8 Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

10 “Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart. 11 Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

12 Then the Spirit [fn] lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!’[fn] 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

14 So 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. 15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.