Ezekiel Sent to the House of Israel

1Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth, and He [†]fed me this scroll. 3And He said to me, “Son of man, [†]feed your stomach and fill your [†]body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

4Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now, come to the house of Israel, and you shall speak with My words to them. 5For you are not being sent to a people of [†]unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel, 6nor to many peoples of [†]unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, whose words you cannot [†]understand. [†]But I have sent you to them [†]who should listen to you; 7yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is [†]stubborn with a strong forehead and stiff heart. 8Behold, I have made your face as strong as their faces and your forehead as strong as their foreheads. 9Like [†]diamond stronger than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” 10Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen with your ears. 11And go now, come to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and you shall speak to them and say to them, whether they listen or whether they refuse, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’”

12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh [†]in His place.” 13And I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the wrath of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing [†]consternation among them.

16Now it happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17“Son of man, I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel; so you will hear a word from My mouth, and you shall warn them from Me. 18When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19Yet if you have warned 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 yourself. 20Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21However, if you have warned [†]the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

22And the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of Yahweh was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24The Spirit then entered me and caused me to stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25Now as for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26Moreover, I will make your tongue cling to [†]the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who reproves them, for they are a rebellious house. 27But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.