Ezekiel 2:1-10

  • Ezekiel commissioned as prophet (1-10)

    • ‘Whether they listen or not’ (5)

    • Shown a scroll of dirges (9, 10)

2  He then said to me: “Son of man,* stand up on your feet that I may speak with you.”+ 2  When he spoke to me, spirit came into me and made me stand up on my feet+ so that I could hear the One speaking to me. 3  He went on to say to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel,+ to rebellious nations that have rebelled against me.+ They and their forefathers have transgressed against me down to this very day.+ 4  I am sending you to sons who are defiant* and hardhearted,+ and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says.’ 5  As for them, whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house+—they will certainly know that a prophet was among them.+ 6  “But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them,+ and do not be afraid of their words, although you are surrounded by briars and thorns*+ and are dwelling among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words,+ and do not be terrified by their faces,+ for they are a rebellious house. 7  You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious people.+ 8  “But you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not become rebellious like this rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”+ 9  When I looked, I saw a hand stretched out to me,+ and in it I saw a written scroll.*+ 10  When he spread it out before me, it had writing on both front and back.+ Dirges* and mourning and wailing were written on it.+

Footnotes

“Son of man”; the first of 93 occurrences of this expression in Ezekiel.
Or “hard of face.”
Or possibly, “although the people are obstinate and are like things pricking you.”
Or “a scroll of a book.”
Or “Songs of mourning.”