Jezekiel 3

1 And he said to me, Son of Man, eat this volume, and go and speak to the children of Israel.

He said to me, “You human, eat this scroll that is in front of you. Then go and speak to the Israeli people [MTY].”

2 So he opened my mouth, and caused me to eat the volume. And he said to me, Son of man,

So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat it.

3 your mouth shall eat, and your belly shall be filled with this volume that is given to you. So I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

Then he said to me, “You human, eat the scroll that I have given to you. Fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and in my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey.

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

Then he said to me, “You human, go to the Israeli people [MTY] and tell them my message.

5 For you are not sent to a people of hard speech, [but] to the house of Israel;

The people to whom I am sending you are not people whose language is very [to learn], a language which you do not understand. I am sending you to your Israeli people [MTY].

6 neither to many nations of other speech and other tongues, nor of harsh language, whose words you would not understand: although if I [had] sent you to such, they would have listened to you.

I am sending you to people whose language you understand very well. If I were sending you to people whose language was difficult for you to understand, they [be surprised and] pay attention to what [say to them].

7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are stubborn and hard-hearted.

But the Israeli people do not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me. [They do not want to listen because] they are all very stubborn [DOU].

8 And, behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your power against their power.

But I will enable you [SYN] to be as stubborn and tough as they are.

9 And it shall be continually stronger than a rock: be not afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their faces, because it is a provoking house.

I will cause you to be as firm/unbreakable as [SIM] the hardest stone, like flint. So, [even though] they are very rebellious people, do not be afraid of them; do not allow them to cause you to be afraid.”

10 And he said to me, Son of man, receive into your heart all the words that I have spoken to you, and hear [them] with your ears.

He also said to me, “You human, listen very carefully to what I say, and keep thinking about it [IDM].

11 And go your way, go in to the captivity, to the children of your people, and you shall speak to them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord; whether they will hear, [or] whether they will forbear.

Go to your fellow Israelis who [here after being] (exiled/forced to leave their country), and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ [and then tell them my message], whether they want to hear it or whether they do not want to hear it.”

12 Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice [as] of a great earthquake, [saying], Blessed [be] the glory of the Lord from his place.

[in the vision] the [of God] lifted me up, and I heard behind [someone speaking very loudly], like a loud rumbling sound. [I heard someone say, ] “Praise our glorious Yahweh in the place where he [in heaven]!”

13 And I perceived the sound of the wings of the living creatures clapping one to the other, and the sound of the wheels was near them, and the sound of the earthquake.

[I heard] the sound of the wings of the four living creatures brushing against each other, [I also heard] the sound of the wheels that were beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound.

14 And the Spirit lifted me, and took me up, and I went in the impulse of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was mighty upon me.

The Spirit took me away. Within me I was very bitter and angry [DOU], but I felt Yahweh holding me very powerfully.

15 Then I passed through the air and came into the captivity, and went round [to] them that lived by the river of Chobar who were there; and I sat there seven days, conversant in the midst of them.

I came to the exiles who lived at Tel [town] near the Kebar River/ [south of Babylon]. Then, where they were living, I sat for seven days. I was [about everything that I had seen].

16 And after the seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man,

After those seven days had ended, Yahweh gave me this message:

17 I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel; and you shall hear a word of my mouth, and shall threaten them from me.

“You human, I am appointing [to be like] a watchman [MET] for the Israeli people [MTY]. [So] listen to these messages that I will give you, and tell them those messages to warn them.

18 When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; and you have not warned him, to give warning to the wicked, to turn from his ways, that he should live; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.

When I say about some wicked people, ‘They will surely [because of their sins],’ if you do not warn them or tell them that they must turn from their wicked behavior if they want to (save their lives/remain alive), those wicked people will die because of the sins that they have committed, but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY].

19 But if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, and from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, and you shall deliver your soul.

But if you warn the wicked people and they do not turn from all their wicked behavior [DOU], they will die because of their sins, but you will have saved [from my punishing you].

20 And when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits a trespass, and I shall bring punishment before him, he shall die, because you did not warn him: he shall even die in his sins, because his righteousness shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.

Similarly, when righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and do evil deeds, I will cause bad things to happen [IDM] to them. [But you must warn them. If you do not warn them], and if they do not stop their sinful behavior, they will die because of their sins; I will not think about the righteous things that they [previously], but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY].

21 But if you warn the righteous not to sin, and he sin not, the righteous shall surely live, because you have warned him; and you shall deliver your own soul.

But if you warn righteous people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely remain alive because they [your] warning, and you will have saved [from my punishing you].”

22 And the hand of the Lord came upon me; and he said to me, Arise, and go forth into the plain, and there shall you be spoken to.

[I felt] Yahweh take control [MTY] of me, and he said to me, “Get up and go [from the city down] to the plain/valley, and there I will speak to you.”

23 And I arose, and went forth to the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, according to the vision, and according to the glory of the Lord, which I saw by the river of Chobar: and I fell on my face.

So I got up and went down to the valley. And I saw the glory of Yahweh there, like the glory that I had seen along the Kebar River/Canal. And I prostrated myself on the ground.

24 Then the Spirit came upon me, and set me on my feet, and spoke to me, and said to me, Go in, and shut yourself up in the midst of your house.

Then the [of God] entered me and enabled me to stand up. He said to me, “Go into your house and stay inside it.

25 And you, son of man, behold, bonds are prepared for you, and they shall bind you with them, and you shall not come forth of the midst of them.

People will tie you with ropes, with the result that you will be unable to go out among the people.

26 Also I will bind your tongue, and you shall be dumb, and shall not be to them a reprover: because it is a provoking house.

[Even though] they are very rebellious people, I will cause your tongue to stick to the roof of your mouth, with the result that you will be unable to talk and to rebuke them.

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, He that hears, let him hear; and he that is disobedient, let him be disobedient: because it is a provoking house.

[then] when I speak to [again], I will enable you to talk [MTY], and you will say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ [and you will tell them my message]. Those who are willing to [to what you say] will listen, [many] will refuse to listen, because they are rebellious people [MTY].”