Ezekiel 3

¹And he said to me, Son of man , eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll , and go , speak to the house of Israel .

²So I opened my mouth , and he gave me this scroll to eat .

³And he said to me, Son of man , feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey .

⁴And he said to me, Son of man , go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.

⁵For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language , but to the house of Israel —

⁶not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language , whose words you cannot understand . Surely , if I sent you to such, they would listen to you.

⁷But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart .

⁸Behold , I have made your face as hard as their faces , and your forehead as hard as their foreheads .

⁹Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead . Fear them not , nor be dismayed at their looks , for they are a rebellious house .

¹⁰Moreover, he said to me, Son of man , all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart , and hear with your ears .

¹¹And go to the exiles , to your people , and speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, whether they hear or refuse to hear.

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up , and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake : Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place !

¹³It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another , and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake .

¹⁴The Spirit lifted me up and took me away , and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit , the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.

¹⁵And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib , who were dwelling by the Chebar canal , and I sat where they were dwelling . And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days .

¹⁶And at the end of seven days , the word of the Lord came to me:

¹⁷Son of man , I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel . Whenever you hear a word from my mouth , you shall give them warning from me.

¹⁸If I say to the wicked , You shall surely die , and you give him no warning , nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way , in order to save his life , that wicked person shall die for his iniquity , but his blood I will require at your hand .

¹⁹But if you warn the wicked , and he does not turn from his wickedness , or from his wicked way , he shall die for his iniquity , but you will have delivered your soul .

²⁰Again , if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice , and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die . Because you have not warned him , he shall die for his sin , and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered , but his blood I will require at your hand .

²¹But if you warn the righteous person not to sin , and he does not sin , he shall surely live , because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul .

²²And the hand of the Lord was upon me there . And he said to me, Arise , go out into the valley , and there I will speak with you.

²³So I arose and went out into the valley , and behold , the glory of the Lord stood there , like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal , and I fell on my face .

²⁴But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet , and he spoke with me and said to me, Go , shut yourself within your house .

²⁵And you , O son of man , behold , cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people.

²⁶And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth , so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house .

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth , and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God. He who will hear , let him hear ; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse , for they are a rebellious house .