Ezekiel 3

¹ He said, ‘Son of man, eat what is given to you; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel’.

² I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat

³ and said, ‘Son of man, feed and be satisfied by the scroll I am giving you’. I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.

⁴ Then he said, ‘Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.

⁵ You are not being sent to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language; you are being sent to the House of Israel.

⁶ Not to big nations that speak difficult foreign languages, and whose words you would not understand – if I sent you to them, they would listen to you;

⁷ but the House of Israel will not listen to you because it will not listen to me. The whole House of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.

⁸ But now, I will make you as defiant as they are, and as obstinate as they are;

⁹ I am going to make your resolution as hard as a diamond and diamond is harder than flint. So do not be afraid of them, do not be overawed by them for they are a set of rebels.’

¹⁰ Then he said, ‘Son of man, remember everything I say to you, listen closely,

¹¹ and go to your exiled countrymen and talk to them. Tell them, “The Lord Yahweh says this”, whether they listen or not.’

¹² The spirit lifted me up, and behind me I could hear a tumultuous shouting, ‘Blessed be the glory of Yahweh in his dwelling place’.

¹³ This was the sound of the animals’ wings beating against each other, and the sound of the wheels beside them; a tumultuous shouting.

¹⁴ The spirit lifted me up and took me; my heart, as I went, overflowed with bitterness and anger, and the hand of Yahweh lay heavy on me.

¹⁵ I came to Tel Abib, to the exiles beside the river Chebar where is they were then living; and I stayed with them for seven days like a man stunned.

¹⁶ After seven days the word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

¹⁷ ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from me, warn them in my Name.

¹⁸ If I say to a wicked man: You are to die, and you do not warn him; if you do not speak and warn him to renounce his evil ways and so live, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

¹⁹ If, however, you do warn a wicked man and he does not renounce his wickedness and his evil ways, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.

²⁰ When the upright man renounces his integrity to do evil and I set a trap for him, he too shall die; since you failed to warn him, he shall die for his sin and the integrity he practised will no longer be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for his death.

²¹ If, however, you warn the upright man not to sin and he abstains from sinning, he shall live, thanks to your warning, and you too will have saved your life.’

²² While I was there the hand of Yahweh came on me; he said, ‘Get up, go out into the valley; I am going to speak to you’.

²³ I got up and went out into the valley; the glory of Yahweh was resting there, like the glory I had seen by the river Chebar, and I prostrated myself.

²⁴ The spirit of Yahweh then entered me, and made me stand up, and spoke to me.

²⁵ He said, ‘Go and shut yourself in your house. ‘Son of man, bonds are now about to be laid on you; you will be bound with them and not be able to mix with others.

²⁶ I am going to make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth; you will be dumb; you will stop warning them, for they are a set of rebels.

²⁷ When I speak to you, I shall open your mouth and you will tell them, “The Lord Yahweh says this”. Whoever will listen, let him listen; whoever will not, let him not; for they are a set of rebels.