Ezekiel 3

Revised Geneva Translation

3 Moreover, 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 this scroll to eat.

³ And He said to me: “Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your core with this scroll that I give you.” Then I ate. And it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ And He said to me: “Son of man, go, enter into the House of Israel, and declare to them My Words.

⁵ “For you are not sent to a people of an unknown tongue, or of a hard language, but to the House of Israel,

⁶ “not to many people of an unknown tongue, or of a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Yet, if I would send you to them, they would obey you.

⁷ “But, the House of Israel will not obey you. For they will not obey Me. Yea, all the House of Israel are impudent and stiff-hearted.

⁸ “Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.

⁹ “I have made your forehead as a sharp stone, harder than the flint. Therefore, do not fear them or be afraid of their look. For they are a rebellious House.”

¹⁰ Moreover, He said to me: “Son of man, receive in your heart all My Words that I speak to you, and hear them with your ears.

¹¹ “And go, get to those who are led away captives, to the children of your people. And speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD God:’ Surely, they will not hear. Indeed, nor will they cease.”

¹² Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard a noise of a great rushing behind me, saying, “Blessed be the Glory of the LORD out of His place.

¹³ I also heard the noise of the wings of the beasts that touched one another, and the rattling of the wheels that were beside them, a noise of a great rushing.

¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness and indignation of my spirit. But the Hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

¹⁵ Then I came to those who were led away captives to Tel Abib, who dwelt by the river Chebar. And I sat where they sat, and remained there, astonished among them for seven days.

¹⁶ And at the end of seven days, the Word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the House of Israel. Therefore, hear the Word in My Mouth, and give them warning from Me.

¹⁸ “When I shall say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not give him warning or speak to admonish the wicked of his wicked way, so that he may live, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

¹⁹ “Yet, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

²⁰ “Likewise, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, I will lay a stumbling block before him and he shall die. And because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered. But his blood will I require at your hand.

²¹ “However, if you admonish the righteous man that the righteous does not sin (so that he does not sin), he shall live because he is admonished; and you have also delivered your soul.”

²² And the Hand of the LORD was there upon me. And He said to me: “Arise. Go into the field, and I will talk with you there.”

²³ So when I had risen up and gone forth into the field, behold, the Glory of the LORD stood there, as the Glory which I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell down upon my face.

²⁴ Then the Spirit entered into me and set me up upon my feet and spoke to me and said to me: “Come. Shut yourself inside your house.

²⁵ “And you, O son of man, behold, they shall put ropes upon you and shall bind you with them. And you shall not go out among them.

²⁶ “And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb, and shall not be to them as a man who rebukes. For they are a rebellious House.

²⁷ “But when I have spoken to you, I will open your mouth. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the LORD God.’ He who hears, let him hear. And he who refuses, let him refuse. For they are a rebellious House.”