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.