Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, November 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 27 / Ordinary 32
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Ezekiel 3:1

He told me, "Son of man, eat what you see. Eat this book. Then go and speak to the family of Israel."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Impenitence;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible, the;   Leaders;   Ministers;   Religious;   Responsibility;   Rolls, of Prophecy;   Word;   Word of God;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Eating;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Preaching;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Book;   Eating;   Roll;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Water of Jealousy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Angel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Writing;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Book;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Roll;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Bulrush;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Roll;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Writing;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Die;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He said to me: “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
Hebrew Names Version
He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Yisra'el.
King James Version
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
English Standard Version
And he said to me, "Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
New American Standard Bible
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
New Century Version
Then the Lord said to me, "Human, eat what you find; eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel."
Amplified Bible
He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find [in this book]; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel."
World English Bible
He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer he saide vnto me, Sonne of man, eate that thou findest: eate this roule, and goe, and speake vnto the house of Israel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
Legacy Standard Bible
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
Berean Standard Bible
"Son of man," He said to me, "eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel."
Contemporary English Version
The Lord said, "Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel."
Complete Jewish Bible
He said to me, "Human being, eat what you see in front of you; eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the house of Isra'el."
Darby Translation
And he said unto me, Son of man, eat what thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.
Easy-to-Read Version
God said to me, "Son of man, eat what you see. Eat this scroll, and then go tell these things to the family of Israel."
George Lamsa Translation
MOREOVER he said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.
Good News Translation
God said, "Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel."
Lexham English Bible
And he said to me, "Son of man, what you find, eat! Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
Literal Translation
And He said to me, Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this roll, and go speak to the house of Israel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde he vnto me: thou sonne of ma, eate that, what so euer it be: Yee eate that closed boke, and go thy waye, and speake vnto the children off Israel.
American Standard Version
And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.
Bible in Basic English
And he said to me, Son of man, take this roll for your food, and go and say my words to the children of Israel.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And He said unto me: 'Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.'
King James Version (1611)
Moreouer he said vnto me, Sonne of man, eate that thou findest: eate this roule, and goe, speake vnto the house of Israel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
After this said he vnto me: Thou sonne of man, eate whatsoeuer thou findest, eate this roule, and go thy way and speake vnto the house of Israel.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to me, Son of Man, eat this volume, and go and speak to the children of Israel.
English Revised Version
And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to me, Sone of man, ete thou what euer thing thou fyndist, ete thou this volym; and go thou, and speke to the sones of Israel.
Update Bible Version
And he said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this roll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
Webster's Bible Translation
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, eat what thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
New English Translation
He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you see in front of you—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel."
New King James Version
Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
New Living Translation
The voice said to me, "Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel."
New Life Bible
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what is in front of you. Eat this book, then go and speak to the people of Israel."
New Revised Standard
He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said he unto me, Son of man What thou findest, eat, - -eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to me: Son of man, eat all that thou shalt find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.
Revised Standard Version
And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
Young's Literal Translation
And He saith unto me, `Son of man, that which thou findest eat, eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.'

Contextual Overview

1 He told me, "Son of man, eat what you see. Eat this book. Then go and speak to the family of Israel." 2As I opened my mouth, he gave me the scroll to eat, saying, "Son of man, eat this book that I am giving you. Make a full meal of it!" So I ate it. It tasted so good—just like honey. 4Then he told me, "Son of man, go to the family of Israel and speak my Message. Look, I'm not sending you to a people who speak a hard-to-learn language with words you can hardly pronounce. If I had sent you to such people, their ears would have perked up and they would have listened immediately. 7"But it won't work that way with the family of Israel. They won't listen to you because they won't listen to me. They are, as I said, a hard case, hardened in their sin. But I'll make you as hard in your way as they are in theirs. I'll make your face as hard as rock, harder than granite. Don't let them intimidate you. Don't be afraid of them, even though they're a bunch of rebels." 10Then he said, "Son of man, get all these words that I'm giving you inside you. Listen to them obediently. Make them your own. And now go. Go to the exiles, your people, and speak. Tell them, ‘This is the Message of God , the Master.' Speak your piece, whether they listen or not." 12Then the Spirit picked me up. Behind me I heard a great commotion—"Blessed be the Glory of God in his Sanctuary!"—the wings of the living creatures beating against each other, the whirling wheels, the rumble of a great earthquake. 14The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn't want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

eat: This must have passed in a vision; but the meaning is plain: Receive ny word into thy mind, let it enter into they soul; digest it, let it be they nourishment, they meat and thy drink, to do the will of thy Father who is in heaven. Ezekiel 3:10, Ezekiel 2:8, Ezekiel 2:9, 1 Timothy 4:15, Revelation 10:9, Revelation 10:10

go: Ezekiel 3:11, Ezekiel 3:15, Ezekiel 3:17-21, Ezekiel 2:3, Jeremiah 24:1-7

Reciprocal: Ezra 6:1 - rolls Jeremiah 15:16 - I did Jeremiah 36:2 - a roll Ezekiel 2:1 - Son

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
Isaiah 27:1
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
Matthew 10:16
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
2 Corinthians 11:14
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
1 Peter 3:7
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Moreover he said unto me,.... The same glorious Person who had been speaking all along in the preceding chapter; and who was seen by the prophet on a sapphire throne, and described in Ezekiel 1:26; the first fifteen verses of this chapter are by Junius and Tremellius made a part of the second:

son of man, eat that thou findest; not anything, but what he found in the hand sent unto him; wherefore the Targum is,

"son of man, receive what is given thee;''

which was the roll, as follows:

eat this roll; not literally, but figuratively, as John is bid to eat the little book, Revelation 10:9; that is, read it, meditate upon the things contained therein; and digest them, that he might be able to impart them, and make them known to others: it is explained in Ezekiel 3:10; by hearing and receiving the words of the prophecy; and so the Targum,

"receive what is written in this roll;''

this is to eat it; as great readers of books are called "helluones librorum", eaters of books, gluttons at them; read them greedily, deeply meditate upon what is in them, and thoroughly digest them; so it becomes all good men to eat the word, to mix it with faith, to receive it in the love of it, and constantly meditate on it, Psalms 1:1; and especially ministers of the Gospel, 1 Thessalonians 4:15;

and go, speak unto the house of Israel; or, as the Targum,

"go, and prophesy to the house of Israel;''

for by eating the roll, in the sense given, he was fit for it; and when ministers of the word have read, and thought of, and digested the truths of the Gospel themselves, then they are prepared to go and enter upon their work, and feed others with knowledge and understanding.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Before, there was a direct commission, now there is a symbolic action. John has the same vision (Revelation 10:8 ff), but there that is expressed, which is here left to be inferred, namely, that “as soon as he had eaten it his belly was bitter.” The sweetness in the mouth denoted that it was good to be a messenger of the Lord (compare the margin reference), but the bitterness which accompanied it, denoted that the commission brought with it much sorrow.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III

This chapter contains more particular instructions to the

prophet. It begins with repeating his appointment to his

office, 1-3.

Ezekiel is then informed that his commission is, at this time,

to the house of Israel exclusively, 4-6;

that his countrymen would pay little regard to him, 7;

that he must persevere in his duty notwithstanding such great

discouragement; and he is endued with extraordinary courage and

intrepidity to enable him fearlessly to declare to a disobedient

and gainsaying people the whole counsel of God, 8-11.

The prophet is afterwards carried by the spirit that animated

the cherubim and wheels, and by which he received the gift of

prophecy, to a colony of his brethren in the neighbourhood,

where he remained seven days overwhelmed with astonishment,

12-15.

He is then warned of the awful importance of being faithful in

his office, 16-21;

commanded to go forth into the plain that he may have a visible

manifestation of the Divine Presence, 22;

and is again favoured with a vision of that most magnificent

set of symbols described in the first chapter, by which the

glorious majesty of the God of Israel was in some measure

represented, 23.

See also Isaiah 6:1-13; Daniel 10:5-19; and Revelation 1:10-16; Revelation 4:1-11,

for other manifestations of the Divine glory, in all of which

some of the imagery is very similar. The prophet receives

directions relative to his future conduct, 24-27.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse Ezekiel 3:1. Eat this roll, and go speak — This must have passed in vision; but the meaning is plain. Receive my word-let it enter into thy Soul; digest it - let it be thy nourishment; and let it be thy meat and drink to do the will of thy Father who is in heaven.


 
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