And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them.

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”

And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and lo, a written scroll was in it;

and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel—

not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you.

But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart.

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

Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

And go, get you to the exiles, to your people, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord class="small-caps" >God’; whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Ezekiel at the River Chebar

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the class="small-caps" >Lord arose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake;

it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a great earthquake.

The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the class="small-caps" >Lord being strong upon me;

and I came to the exiles at Tel-a′bib, who dwelt by the river Chebar. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

And at the end of seven days, the word of the class="small-caps" >Lord came to me:

If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

But 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 will have saved your life.

Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

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

Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced

And the hand of the class="small-caps" >Lord was there upon me; and he said to me, “Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with you.”