| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.” | 1The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” |
| 2So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll. | 2So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. |
| 3“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. | 3“Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. |
| 4Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. | 4Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages. |
| 5For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel— | 5I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand. |
| 6not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. | 6No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. If I did, they would listen! |
| 7But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. | 7But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn. |
| 8Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. | 8But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are. |
| 9I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.” | 9I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.” |
| 10“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart. | 10Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. |
| 11Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.” | 11Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.” |
| 12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!’ | 12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. (May the glory of the LORD be praised in his place!) |
| 13It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound. | 13It was the sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them. |
| 14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me. | 14The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the LORD’s hold on me was strong. |
| 15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed. | 15Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel-abib, beside the Kebar River. I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days. A Watchman for Israel |
| 16At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, | 16After seven days the LORD gave me a message. He said, |
| 17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me. | 17“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. |
| 18If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. | 18If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. |
| 19But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself. | 19If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. |
| 20Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood. | 20“If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. |
| 21But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.” | 21But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.” |
| 22And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.” | 22Then the LORD took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.” |
| 23So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown. | 23So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the LORD, just as I had seen in my first vision by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground. |
| 24Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. | 24Then the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go to your house and shut yourself in. |
| 25And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. | 25There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people. |
| 26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. | 26And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels. |
| 27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. | 27But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. Then you will say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says!’ Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels. |
|
