And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and 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.
- BSB which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, 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 I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
- Isa 3:11Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
- Isa 30:8–11Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
- Jer 36:29–32And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
- Rev 11:14The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
- Hab 2:2And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
- Rev 9:12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
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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.