Ezekiel 3

Eat the Scroll

1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you. Eat this scroll, then go speak to the house of Israel.”

2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

3 He said, “Son of man, fill your stomach and feed yourself with this scroll I am giving you.” I ate it, and it tasted sweet like honey in my mouth.

Sent to a Hardheaded People

4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

5 You are not being sent to people with strange speech or hard language, but to the house of Israel,

6 not to many nations with confusing tongues whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me. All the house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

8 Look, I have made your face just as hard as theirs, and your forehead just as tough as theirs.

9 I have made your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or shaken by their looks, even though they are a rebellious house.”

10 He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and let them sink deep into your ears.

11 Go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or not.”

The Watchman’s Call

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and behind me I heard a loud rumbling sound, saying, “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place.”

13 I heard the sound of the living creatures’ wings brushing against each other, the sound of the wheels beside them, and a loud earthquake-like noise.

14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went bitter and angry in my spirit, but the hand of the LORD was strong on me.

15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, living by the Kebar River, and I sat there with them, stunned, for seven days.

16 At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, warn them for Me.

18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak up to turn him from his wicked ways so he can live, that wicked man will die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his blood.

19 But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

20 Again, if a righteous man turns away from doing right and commits sin, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die for his sin, and his righteous deeds will not be remembered, but I will hold you responsible for his blood.

21 But if you warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took the warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Bound and Silenced

22 The hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, and I will speak with you there.”

23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I saw by the Kebar River. I fell facedown.

24 Then the Spirit entered me and stood me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

25 As for you, son of man, they will tie you up with ropes so you cannot go out among the people.

26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, because they are a rebellious house.

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; whoever refuses, let him refuse, because they are a rebellious house.”