Ezekiel 3

3 ¹ He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."

² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.

³ And he said to me, "Son of man, fill your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you." Then I ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey.

⁴ Then he said to me, "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵ For you are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me; for all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ⁸ Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like emery, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

¹⁰ And he said to me, "Son of man, take into your heart all my words that I speak to you, and hear them with your ears. ¹¹ Go now to the exiles, to your own people, and speak to them. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Father says,' whether they listen or refuse to listen.

¹² Then the Spirit of our Father lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing: "Blessed be the glory of our Father from his dwelling place!" ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great rushing.

¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, my spirit burning within me, with the hand of our Father strong upon me. ¹⁵ I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were living by the Chebar canal, and I sat among them where they lived, overwhelmed, for seven days.

The Father Appoints a Watchman

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

¹⁷ "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them warning from me. ¹⁸ If 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, to save his life, that wicked person will die for his sin, but I will hold you accountable for his blood. ¹⁹ But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved your own life.

²⁰ Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I place a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die for his sin, and the righteous deeds he did will not be remembered, but I will hold you accountable for his blood. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he took the warning, and you will have saved your own life.

²² The hand of our Father was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you."

²³ So I got up and went out to the valley, and there stood the glory of our Father, like the glory I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face.

²⁴ But the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said, "Go, shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵ And you, son of man, they will put cords on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be mute and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Father says.' Whoever will listen, let him listen; and whoever will refuse, let him refuse—for they are a rebellious house.