which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.
Parallel translations
- WEB He spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
- KJV And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
- NKJV Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.
- NASB When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were songs of mourning, sighing, and woe.
- NLT which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The scroll is written on both sides with lamentations, mourning, and woe. Its content is overwhelmingly a message of judgment.
Overview
Writing on both sides signals a full, complete message with nothing to add. The themes of lament and woe reveal that judgment dominates Ezekiel's commission to a rebellious people. Yet this sober word is necessary to confront sin honestly. The weight of woe heightens the eventual grace of restoration God will later promise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rev 8:13And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Isa 30:8–11Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
- Jer 36:29–32You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’
- Rev 11:14The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.
- Hab 2:2Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
- Rev 9:12The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 2:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.