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].”

He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, 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 caused me to eat the scroll.

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.

He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your belly and your bowels with it.” Then I ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

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

He said to me, “Son of man, go 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 you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, 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 peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can’t understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.

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 listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.

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

Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard 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.”

I have made your forehead as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though 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, receive in your heart and hear with your ears all my words that I speak to you.

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.”

Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse.”

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 voice of a great rushing, saying, “Blessed be the LORD’s glory 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 the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the 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; and the LORD’s hand was strong on 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 Aviv who lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

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

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

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 made you 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 tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your 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 you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your 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 turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your 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].”

Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your 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.”

The LORD’s hand was there on me; and he said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and I will talk with you there.”

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 out into the plain, and behold, the LORD’s glory stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar. Then I fell on 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 on my feet. He spoke with me, and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

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

But you, son of man, behold, they will put ropes on you, and will bind you with them, and you will 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.

I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and will not be able to correct them, 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 you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”