Ezekiel 3:14

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Ezekiel records his experience immediately after hearing the rumbling sound of the living creatures' wings and wheels, as the Spirit forcibly carries him toward the exiles at Tel-abib.

The words — The text highlights רוּחַ (Ru.ach) as the agent that lifts and takes the prophet, alongside יַד (yad) denoting the overwhelming physical pressure of the LORD.

The thread — The motif of the LORD’s hand compelling the prophet appears when he is set down in a valley in Ezekiel 37:1, while similar accounts of divine pressure surface in 2 Kings 3:15 and Jeremiah 20:7.

Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that prophetic ministry originates from external divine compulsion rather than internal willingness, requiring obedience regardless of personal distress.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְר֥וּחַve./Ru.achand/ a spirit נְשָׂאַ֖תְנִיne.sa.'At./niit lifted up/ me וַתִּקָּחֵ֑נִיva./ti.ka.Che./niand/ it took/ me וָאֵלֵ֥ךְva./'e.Lekhand/ I went מַר֙marbitter בַּחֲמַ֣תba./cha.Matin/ [the] rage of רוּחִ֔יru.Ch/ispirit/ my וְיַד־ve./yad-and/ [the] hand of יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahweh עָלַ֖י'a.La/ion/ me חָזָֽקָה׃cha.Za.kahit was strong

King James Version

So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

Cross-references

2 Kings 3:15 But now, bring me a harpist.” And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha
Jeremiah 20:7 You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
Ezekiel 8:3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.
2 Kings 2:16 “Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” “Do not send them,” Elisha replied.
Ezekiel 1:3 the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.
Ezekiel 3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!”
Numbers 11:11 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?
1 Kings 18:46 And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Jeremiah 6:11 But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.