Ezekiel 3

Ezekiel’s Commission

1Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; 1eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So I 2opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and 3fill your 4body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I 5ate it, and it was sweet as 6honey in my mouth.

4Then He said to me, “Son of man, 7go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5For 8you are not being sent to a people of 910unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6nor to many peoples of 11unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. 12But I have sent you to them 13who should listen to you; 7yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are 14not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is 15stubborn and obstinate. 8Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9Like 16emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” 10Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My 17words which I will speak to you and listen 18closely. 1119Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or 20not, ‘Thus says the Lord 21God.’”

12Then the 22Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great 23rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord 24in His place.” 13And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the 25wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and 26the hand of the Lord was strong on me. 15Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there 27seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

1628At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17“Son of man, I have appointed you a 29watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, 30warn them from Me. 18When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his 31blood I will require at your hand. 19Yet if you have 32warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have 33delivered yourself. 20Again, 34when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an 35obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21However, if you have 36warned 37the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

22The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will 38speak to you.” 23So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the 39glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which 40I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24The 41Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25As for you, son of man, they will 42put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26Moreover, 43I will make your tongue stick to 44the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. 27But 45when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord 46God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; 47for they are a rebellious house.