3:1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you1—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 3:2 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.
3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, fill your belly and your insides with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it,2 and it was as sweet as honey3 in my mouth.
3:4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of obscure speech4 and difficult language,5 but6 to the house of Israel— 3:6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand7—surely if8 I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you,9 because they are not willing to listen to me,10 for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.11
3:8 “I have set your face hard12 against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 3:9 I have made your forehead harder than flint—like diamond!13 Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you,14 for they are a rebellious house.”
3:10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully to all my words that I speak to you and take them to heart. 3:11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen,15 and speak to them—say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”
Ezekiel Before the Exiles
3:12 Then a wind lifted me up16 and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me—may the glory of the Lord be praised in his place!17— 3:13 the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a loud rumbling sound. 3:14 A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly,18 my spirit full of anger, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully19 on me. 3:15 I came to the exiles at Tel Abib,20 who lived by the Kebar River. I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days.21
3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:22 3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman23 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 If I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,”24 and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn him25 to turn from his evil conduct so that he may live—that wicked person will die for26 his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.27 3:19 But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil conduct, he will die for his iniquity and you will have saved your own life.28
3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set a stumbling block29 before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be remembered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he30 does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”
Isolated and Silenced
3:22 The hand of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley,31 and I will speak with you there.” 3:23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River; and I threw myself down with my face to the ground.
3:24 Then a wind came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord32 spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. 3:25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among the people. 3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak;33 you will be unable to reprove34 them, for they are a rebellious house. 3:27 But when I speak with you,35 I will loosen your tongue36 and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will pay attention, let him do so, and whoever refuses to pay attention, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
Ominous Object Lessons