Ezekiel
3
- And he said to me, "Son of man, eat
what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel."
- So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the
scroll to eat.
- Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat
this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate
it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
- He then said to me: "Son of man, go
now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.
- You are not being sent to a people of obscure
speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel --
- not to many peoples of obscure speech and
difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent
you to them, they would have listened to you.
- But the house of Israel is not willing to
listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole
house of Israel is hardened and obstinate.
- But I will make you as unyielding and hardened
as they are.
- I will make your forehead like the hardest
stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though
they are a rebellious house."
- And he said to me, "Son of man, listen
carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.
- Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak
to them. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they
listen or fail to listen."
- Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard
behind me a loud rumbling sound -- May the glory of the LORD be praised in
his dwelling place ! --
- the sound of the wings of the living creatures
brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud
rumbling sound.
- The Spirit then 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.
- I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib
near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them
for seven days -- overwhelmed.
- At the end of seven days the word of the
LORD came to me:
- "Son of man, I have made you a watchman
for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from
me.
- When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely
die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways
in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will
hold you accountable for his blood.
- But if you do warn the wicked man and he
does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his
sin; but you will have saved yourself.
- "Again, when a righteous man turns
from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him,
he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous
things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for
his blood.
- But if you do warn the righteous man not
to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and
you will have saved yourself."
- The hand of the LORD was upon me there,
and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will
speak to you."
- So I got up and went out to the plain. And
the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the
Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
- Then the Spirit came into me and raised
me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your
house.
- And you, son of man, they will tie with
ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.
- I will make your tongue stick to the roof
of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though
they are a rebellious house.
- But when I speak to you, I will open your
mouth and you shall say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says.' Whoever
will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they
are a rebellious house.
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