Ezekiel 2:8-3:4

The Voice

⁸Listen to what I tell you, son of man. Do not follow their rebellious ways. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.

⁹When I looked, I saw a hand extended toward me. In its palm was a scroll. ¹⁰As I looked on, the scroll was unrolled, and I could see that there was writing on the front and back. It was covered with words of lament, grief, and disaster.

The scroll Ezekiel is handed is a transcript of what he will report about Jerusalem’s fate to his fellow exiles in Babylonia. Although scrolls typically have writing on only one side (the front), the prophet sees that this scroll is covered with writing on both sides. This signals not only the overflowing anger that God harbors for His people but also the scope of the disaster that will overwhelm God’s rebellious nation.

3 The Voice (to Ezekiel): Son of man, eat what you find here—consume the scroll you see before you. Then go and preach to the people of Israel.

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

The Voice: ³Son of man, swallow this scroll I am giving you, and let it fill your stomach.

So I ate it, and these words of God tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

The Voice: ⁴Son of man, go to the people of Israel and preach My message to them.