The Spirit lifted me up and took me away: This verse begins in the same way as verse 12 (see the comments there). It adds that the wind (or God’s power) “carried me off” (Good News Translation).

And I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit: As Ezekiel was being taken back to the village where the Jewish exiles lived, he was “bitter and angry” (Good News Translation). Here bitterness does not refer to a bitter taste, but to the fact that Ezekiel was annoyed and upset. The heat of my spirit means he was angry. We do not know exactly why he felt like this. According to Greenberg, it may be that his rage reflected God’s anger against the sins of the Israelites, or that Ezekiel’s distress was due to the sad and unpleasant task that God had given him. Or could it be that Ezekiel did not want to obey God’s command, but he did not have any choice, because God had taken control of him. We do not know, but our translations must not lessen the force of this clause, which New English Bible and Revised English Bible do by saying “and I was full of exaltation.” Contemporary English Version renders it well with “and I was both annoyed and angry.”

The hand of the LORD being strong upon me: This clause explains why Ezekiel felt bitter and angry. The power of Yahweh overwhelmed Ezekiel to such an extent that he could not refuse to obey. As in 1.3 (see the comments there), the hand of the LORD should not be rendered literally. It is a figure of speech for “the power of Yahweh,” which in this instance controlled Ezekiel powerfully. Good News Translation renders this clause as “The power of the LORD came on me with great force,” New Century Version says “and I felt the great power of the LORD,” and Contemporary English Version has “The LORD’s power had taken complete control of me.”

A model for this verse is:

• The wind [or, God’s power] lifted me up and carried me away. I felt bitter and angry because Yahweh’s power had overwhelmed me [or, as I felt Yahweh’s power take complete control of me].

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .