Thou therefore gird up thy loins Prepare to do the work to which I call and appoint thee. For, it being the custom of the eastern people to wear long garments, which they girded about their loins when any business required great activity or expedition; by thus speaking the Lord enjoins his prophet to use all possible vigour and intention of mind as well as of body, that he might execute, with diligence and despatch, the office which God had assigned him. And arise Another expression of the same meaning. And speak all that I command thee Hebrew, shall command thee. Be not dismayed at their faces Discover no fear, and conceal no message; lest I confound thee The Hebrew verb is the same in both parts of the sentence, which may be literally rendered thus: Be not confounded at their faces, (namely, when thou appearest in their presence,)
lest I confound thee before them. God exhorts him not to be dismayed at the scoffs and ill treatment he should meet with from hardened sinners, especially from those who thought their power and authority set them above reproof, and would bear them out in whatsoever they did: see Ezekiel 11:6. He tells him it is better to bear the reproaches of men than the reproofs of God, who would call him to a strict account how he discharged his duty.