EzekielChapter 3

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the house of Israel." ²So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. ³He said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I'm giving you. Fill your stomach with it." So I ate it. In my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey. ⁴Then he said to me, "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel. Speak my words to them. ⁵For I am not sending you to a people whose speech is strange and whose language is hard. I am sending you to the house of Israel. ⁶I am not sending you to many peoples with strange speech and hard languages, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they surely would have listened to you. ⁷But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me. For the whole house of Israel is stubborn and hard-hearted. ⁸Look, I will make your face as hard as their faces. I will make your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them. Do not be terrified when they look at you, even though they are a rebellious house." ¹⁰He also said, "Son of man, listen closely to all the words I speak to you. Take them to heart. ¹¹Go to your people, the exiles. Speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says.' Do this whether they listen or refuse to listen." ¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up. Behind me I heard a loud rumbling sound: "Praise the glory of the LORD in the place where he lives!" ¹³It was the sound of the living creatures' wings brushing against each other. It was also the sound of the wheels beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound. ¹⁴The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went feeling bitter, and my spirit was angry. The hand of the LORD was strong on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel-abib, by the River Kebar. I sat where they sat. I stayed there among them for seven days, stunned and overwhelmed. ¹⁶At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me. He said, ¹⁷"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me. ¹⁸Suppose I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die.' But you do not warn him. You do not speak out to warn him to leave his wicked ways and save his life. Then that wicked man will die in his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his blood. ¹⁹But suppose you warn a wicked man, and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked ways. Then he will die in his sin. But you will have saved yourself. ²⁰Now suppose a righteous man turns away from doing what is right and does wrong. And I put something in his path that makes him fall. Then he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin. The right things he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood. ²¹But suppose you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin. Then he will surely live, because he listened to your warning. And you will have saved yourself." ²²The hand of the LORD was on me there. He said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain. I will speak with you there." ²³So I got up and went out to the plain. And there was the glory of the LORD! It was like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell with my face to the ground. ²⁴Then the Spirit came into me and stood me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, "Go and shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵And you, son of man, they will tie you up with ropes. You will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. You will be silent. You will not be able to scold them, even though they are a rebellious house. ²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth. Then you must tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says.' Whoever will listen, let him listen. Whoever refuses, let him refuse. For they are a rebellious house.