He said to me, ‘Daniel, highly valued man, carefully consider the words I am speaking to you. Stand up! For now I have been sent to you.’ When he spoke this word to me, I stood up trembling.
“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take balances to weigh and divide the hair.
But get up, and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose—to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things you have seen as well as to the things I will yet reveal to you.
Then he said: ‘Highly valued man, do not fear! Shalom to you. Be strong, now! Chazak!’ “Even as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’
“He came near to where I was standing, and as he approached I was terrified and fell on my face. But he said to me, ‘Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.’
“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel. Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I will not be inquired of by you.’
“Son of man, suppose a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously and I stretch out My hand over it, break off its staff of bread, send famine upon it and cut it off from man and beast.
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts. They have put the stumbling block of their iniquity right before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?
“Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, hear the word of Adonai,
You, son of man, prepare supplies for exile. Go into exile by day in their sight, go away as if into exile from your home to another place in their sight—perhaps they will recognize that they are a rebellious house.
“But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them. Do not fear their words, though thistles and thorns are beside you and you sit among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or be dismayed by their looks—for they are a rebellious house.
He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to Bnei-Yisrael, to rebellious nations that have been rebelling against Me. They and their fathers have rebelled against Me to this very day.
Like the appearance of the rainbow in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance. It was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Adonai. I saw it, fell upon my face, and heard the voice of the One who was speaking.
The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, set your heart on all that I show you—for I brought you here in order to show you—and report all that you see to the house of Israel.”
Then he said to me, “Son of man, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day when they will construct it, in order to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.