Ezekiel 3

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

2So I opened my mouth, and he fed me that scroll.

3He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” So I ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

4Then he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

5For you are not being sent to a people of strange speech and a difficult language, but to the house of Israel—

6not to many peoples of strange speech and a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.

7But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me; for the whole house of Israel has a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.

8Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

9I have made your forehead like diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

10He said to me, “Son of man, take to heart all my words that I speak to you, and listen with your ears.

11Go to the exiles, to your own people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rumbling: “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place!”

13It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, the sound of a great rumbling.

14The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me.

15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who lived by the Chebar River, and I sat where they were living. I stayed there among them for seven days, overwhelmed.

16At the end of seven days, the word of Yahweh came to me:

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

18When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to warn the wicked from their wicked way in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their iniquity, but I will require their blood from your hand.

19But if you warn the wicked, and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their wicked way, they will die for their iniquity, but you will have saved your own life.

20Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does wrong, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Because you did not warn them, they will die for their sin, and the righteous deeds they have done will not be remembered, but I will require their blood from your hand.

21But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live, because they took warning, and you will have saved your own life.”

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

23So I got up and went out to the plain, and there stood the glory of Yahweh, like the glory I had seen by the Chebar River, and I fell facedown.

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

25As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so that you cannot go out among them.

26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be unable to speak and cannot rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house.

27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says.’ Whoever will listen, let them listen, and whoever refuses, let them refuse, for they are a rebellious house.”