Ezekiel 3

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

And he said to me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak to the house of Israel!

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

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

3 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.

And he said to me, Son of man, let thy stomach eat, and fill thy body with this roll which I give thee! Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

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

And he said to me: Son of man, go, get thee to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them!

5 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].

For not to a people of a dark speech and a hard language art thou sent, but to the house of Israel;

6 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].

not to many nations of a dark speech and a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Truly, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened to thee.

7 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].

But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee, for they will not hearken to me. For the whole house of Israel is brazen-faced and stiff-hearted.

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

Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

9 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.”

As an adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy forehead; fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks; for they are a rebellious house.

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

Moreover, he said to me: Son of man, all my words, which I shall speak to thee, receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears!

11 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.”

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, to the children of thy people, and speak to them, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

12 [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]!”

Then the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound, as of a great rushing, saying, “Praised be the majesty of Jehovah from his place!”

13 [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.

I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures, that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even a noise of a great rushing.

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

So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me.

15 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].

Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar; and I dwelt where they dwelt; I even dwelt astonished among them seven days.

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

And at the end of seven days, the word of Jehovah came to me, and said:

17 “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.

Son of man, I have set thee as a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me!

18 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].

When I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die! and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so that he may live, that wicked man shall die for his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

19 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].

Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, and from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 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].

Again, when a righteous man turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, and he shall die because thou hast not given him warning, he will die for his sin; and his righteousness which he hath done will not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

21 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].”

Yet if thou warn the righteous man, that he sin not, and the righteous man doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he hath received warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.

22 [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.”

And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me, and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and there will I speak with thee.

23 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.

Then I arose, and went forth into the plain, and lo, the glory of Jehovah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.

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

Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet. And he spake with me, and said to me: Go, shut thyself within thy house.

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

And behold, O son of man, bands shall be put upon thee, and thou shalt be bound therewith; and thou shalt not go out among them.

26 [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.

And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.

27 [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].”

But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that will hear, let him hear, and he that will forbear, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house.