The Angel and the Small Scroll

(Ezekiel 3:1–15)

Then I saw a mighty[fn] angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, [with] a rainbow above his head. His face [was] like the sun, and his legs [were] like pillars of fire. 2 He held in his hand a scroll,[fn] which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and [his] left [foot] on the land. 3 Then he cried out vvv in a loud voice like the roar of a lion. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their voices.

4 

When the seven thunders had spoken,[fn] I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying,“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and {do} not write it {down}.”

5 

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand[fn] to heaven. 6 And he swore by Him who lives vvv vvv forever [and] ever, who created heaven and [everything] in it, the earth and [everything] in it, and the sea and [everything] in it“There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound [his] trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants the prophets.”

8 

Then 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.”

9 

And 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.”[fn]

10 

[So] I took the scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. [But] when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.

11 

And they told me,“You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” 11