New Living Translation | International Standard Version |
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.” | 1Then he told me, "Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see —this scroll—and then go talk to the house 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“Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. | 3Then he told me, "Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I'm giving you." So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth. |
4Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages. | 4Then he told me, "Son of Man, go to the house of Israel and tell them what I have to say to them, |
5I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand. | 5because you're not going to a people whose speech you cannot understand or whose language is difficult to speak. Instead, you're going to the house of Israel. |
6No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. If I did, they would listen! | 6This isn't a large group of people whose speech is unintelligible to you or whose language is difficult for you to comprehend. Frankly, if I had sent you to that kind of people, they would certainly have listened to you! |
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. | 7But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. |
8But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are. | 8So pay attention! I'm going to make you just as obstinate and unyielding as they are. |
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.” | 9I'm making you harder than flint—like diamond! So you are not to fear them or be intimidated by how they look at you, since they're a rebellious group." |
10Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. | 10Next, he told me, "Son of Man, take to heart every word that I'm telling you. Listen carefully, |
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.” | 11then go immediately to the exiles; that is, to your people's descendants, and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says…' whether they listen or not." |
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!) | 12Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard a great earthquake behind me and the glory of the LORD arose from his place, |
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. | 13accompanied by the sound of the wings of the living creatures gently touching each other and with the sound of the wheels emanating from the front, accompanied by a great earthquake. |
14The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the LORD’s hold on me was strong. | 14Then the Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly with an angry attitude as the hand of the LORD rested on me. |
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 | 15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib by the Chebar River and sat down among them for seven days, appalled. |
16After seven days the LORD gave me a message. He said, | 16At the end of the seven days, this message from the LORD came to me: |
17“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. | 17"Son of Man," he said, "I've appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me. |
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. | 18"So when I say to a wicked person, 'You're about to die,' if you don't warn or instruct that wicked person that his behavior is wicked so he can live, that wicked person will die in his sin, but I'll hold you responsible for his death. |
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. | 19If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn't repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he'll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life. |
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. | 20"When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I'll set a stumbling block before him. He'll die. If you don't warn him, he'll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won't be remembered, but you'll be held responsible for his death. |
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.” | 21If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn't commit sin, then he'll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life." |
22Then the LORD took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.” | 22The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he told me, "Get up! Go to the valley, and I'll speak with you there." |
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. | 23So I got up, went to the valley, and there was the glory of the LORD, standing there just like I had seen at the Chebar River. So I fell on my face. |
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. | 24The Spirit entered me, rested on me, caused me to stand on my feet, and then he spoke to me. This is what he had to say: "Go barricade yourself in your house. |
25There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people. | 25Now pay attention! They're going to bind you with ropes, tying you up right in their midst, so you won't be able to circulate freely among them. |
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. | 26Meanwhile, I'll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you'll be mute and unable to reprove them, since they're a rebellious group. |
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. | 27But when I speak with you, I'll open your mouth so you can say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "As for those who will listen, 'Let them listen,' but as for those who refuse, 'Let them refuse,' since they're a rebellious group."'" |
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. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|