Ezekiel 3:1-3

3:1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you ¹  – eat this scroll – and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 3:2 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, ²  and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 3:10

3:10 And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully.

Jeremiah 15:16

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in, ³ 

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ⁵  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ⁶  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ⁷ 

Jeremiah 4:14-16

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ⁸ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,

from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim. ⁹ 

4:16 They are saying, ¹⁰ 

‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ¹¹ 

“The enemy is coming!” ¹² 

Proclaim this message ¹³  to Jerusalem:

“Those who besiege cities ¹⁴  are coming from a distant land.

They are ready to raise the battle cry against ¹⁵  the towns in Judah.”’

Revelation 10:9

10:9 So ¹⁶  I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He ¹⁷  said to me, “Take the scroll ¹⁸  and eat it. It ¹⁹  will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “eat what you find.”

[3:3]  ² tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.

[15:16]  ³ sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.

[15:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”

[15:1]  ⁵ tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

[15:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

[15:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”

[4:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[4:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”

[4:16]  ¹⁰ tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:16]  ¹¹ tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:16]  ¹² tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”

[4:16]  ¹³ tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.

[4:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.

[4:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”

[10:9]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the instructions given by the voice.

[10:9]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[10:9]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the scroll” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:9]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.