Ezekiel 3

1 “Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

And He says to me, “Son of man, eat that which you find, eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

And I open my mouth, and He causes me to eat this scroll.

3 “Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

And He says to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I am giving to you”; and I eat it, and it is as honey for sweetness in my mouth.

4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

And He says to me, “Son of man, go forth, go to the house of Israel, and you have spoken to them with My words.

5 For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—

For you [are] not sent to a people deep of lip and heavy of tongue—to the house of Israel;

6 not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

not to many peoples, deep of lip and heavy of tongue, whose words you do not understand. If I had not sent you to them—they listen to you,

7 But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

but the house of Israel are not willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to Me, for all the house of Israel are brazen-faced and strong-hearted.

8 Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

Behold, I have made your face strong against their face, and your forehead strong against their forehead.

9 I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

As an adamant, harder than a rock, I have made your forehead; do not fear them, nor are you frightened before them, for they [are] a house of rebellion.”

10 “Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.

And He says to me, “Son of man, all My words that I speak to you, receive with your heart, and hear with your ears;

11 Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

and go forth, go to the expulsion, to the sons of your people, and you have spoken to them, and have said to them: Thus said Lord YHWH; whether they hear, or whether they refrain.”

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!’

And a spirit lifts me up, and I hear a noise behind me, a great rushing—“Blessed [is] the glory of YHWH from His place!”

13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

Even a noise of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and a noise of the wheels alongside them, even a noise of a great rushing.

14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

And [the] Spirit has lifted me up, and takes me away, and I go bitterly, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of YHWH [is] strong on me.

15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.

And I come to the expulsion, at Tel-Ahib, who are dwelling at the river Chebar, and where they are dwelling I also dwell [for] seven days, causing astonishment in their midst.

16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

And it comes to pass, at the end of seven days,

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

that there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man, I have given you [as] a watchman to the house of Israel, and you have heard a word from My mouth, and have warned them from Me.

18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.

In My saying to the wicked: You surely die; and you have not warned him, nor have spoken to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so that he lives; he—the wicked—dies in his iniquity, and I require his blood from your hand.

19 But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

And you, because you have warned the wicked, and he has not turned back from his wickedness, and from his wicked way, he dies in his iniquity, and you have delivered your soul.

20 Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, and he has done perversity, and I have put a stumbling-block before him, he dies; because you have not warned him, he dies in his sin, and his righteousness that he has done is not remembered, and I require his blood from your hand.

21 But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

And you, because you have warned him—the righteous—that the righteous does not sin, and he has not sinned, he surely lives, because he has been warned; and you have delivered your soul.”

22 And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

And there is a hand of YHWH on me there, and He says to me, “Rise, go forth to the valley, and there I speak with you.”

23 So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

And I rise and go forth to the valley, and behold, there the glory of YHWH is standing as the glory that I had seen by the river Chebar, and I fall on my face.

24 Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

And [the] Spirit comes into me, and causes me to stand on my feet, and He speaks with me, and says to me, “Go in, be shut up in the midst of your house.

25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.

And you, son of man, behold, they have put thick bands on you, and have bound you with them, and you do not go forth in their midst;

26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

and I cause your tongue to cleave to your palate, and you have been mute, and are not for a reprover to them, for they [are] a house of rebellion.

27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

And in My speaking with you, I open your mouth, and you have said to them: Thus said Lord YHWH; the hearer hears, and the refrainer refrains; for they [are] a house of rebellion.”