Ezekiel 3:3 (KJV)

Passage

And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

Ezekiel 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

Ezekiel 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

Ezekiel 3:5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "cause", "belly", "fill", "bowels", "roll", "give", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "cause", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "So I opened my mouth and he..." into verse 4's "And he said unto me Son of...", so "said" and "cause" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "cause" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.