1 He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.

2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day.

4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD."

5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

6 And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

8 But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.

9 I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it.

10 He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.