Ezekiel 3
1 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 that scroll to eat.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.
4 He said to me, “Son of man, go, enter the house of Israel, and speak to them with my words.
5 For you are not being sent to a people with obscure speech and a difficult language, but to the house of Israel.
6 You are not being sent to many peoples with obscure speech and a difficult language, 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 be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me; for the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.
8 Look, I have made your face as hard as theirs, and your forehead as hard as theirs.
9 I have made your forehead harder than flint, harder than stone. Do not fear them or be frightened by them, for they are a rebellious house.”
10 He said to me, “Son of man, take to heart all the words I speak to you, and listen with your ears.
11 Go, enter among the exiles, your own people, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”
12 Then a spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place!”
13 I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake.
14 A spirit lifted me up and carried me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the Kebar River. I sat where they lived, and I stayed there among them, stunned, for seven days.
16 At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me:
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. You will hear a word from my mouth and warn them on my behalf.
18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn him about his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked man will die for his guilt, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
19 But if you warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his guilt, but you will have saved your life.
20 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does what is wrong, I will put a stumbling block before him, and he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin, and the righteous deeds he did will not be remembered; and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
21 But if you warn a righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live because he heeded the warning, and you will have saved your life.”
22 The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.”
23 So I got up and went out to the valley. There stood the glory of the LORD, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
24 Then a spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
25 And you, son of man, look: they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, and you will not go out among them.
26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute. You will no longer be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.
27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Let whoever listens, listen; let whoever refuses, refuse, for they are a rebellious house.”
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