1. He said to me: “Son of man, 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 it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4. Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
5. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language but to the house of Israel.
6. You are not being sent to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
7. But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.
8. Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
9. I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, even though they are a rebellious house.”
10. Next He said to me: “Son of man, listen carefully to all My words that I speak to you and take them to heart.
11. Go to your people, the exiles, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”
12. The Spirit then lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me — praise the glory of the Lord in His place! —
13. with the sound of the living creatures’ wings brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.