| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, 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 caused me to eat that scroll. | 2So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. |
| 3And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. | 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 to the house of Israel and speak with 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 sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, | 5I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand. |
| 6not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I 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 not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent 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 have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. | 8But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are. |
| 9Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, 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.” |
| 10Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. | 10Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. |
| 11And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” | 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 behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His 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!) |
| 13I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. | 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, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong 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. |
| 15Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. | 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 |
| 16Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that 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; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them 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. |
| 18When 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, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. | 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. |
| 19Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. | 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. |
| 20“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. | 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. |
| 21Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.” | 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.” |
| 22Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk 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 arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. | 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, and spoke with me and said to me: “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, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them. | 25There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people. |
| 26I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for 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 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. | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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