He eats the scroll and it tastes sweet as honey, then is carried to the exiles at Tel-abib, where he sits stunned among them seven days. Our Father makes him a watchman, accountable for warning, then binds his tongue so he speaks only when given words.
3 1 He said, "Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, then go speak to the house of Israel."
2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.
3 He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you." I ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey.
4 Then he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 For you are not 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 hard language whose words you can't understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would listen 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 are hard-headed and stubborn-hearted. 8 Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces, your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 I've made your forehead like emery, harder than flint. Do not fear them or be dismayed by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
10 He said to me, "Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you into your heart and hear them with your ears. 11 Go to the exiles, 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, and behind me I heard a great rushing sound: "Blessed be the glory of our Father from his dwelling place!" 13 the sound of the living creatures' wings brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, a sound of great rushing. 14 The Spirit lifted me and carried me off, and I went in bitterness, my spirit burning within me, the hand of our Father strong upon me. 15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib by the Chebar canal, and I sat among them there, overwhelmed, 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 Israel's house. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them from me. 18 If I tell the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you don't warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man 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 evil or his evil way, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved your life.
20 Again, when a righteous person turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin, his righteous deeds forgotten, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not, he will live because he heeded the warning, and you will have saved your life.
22 The hand of our Father was on me there, and he said to me, "Get up, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you."
23 So I got up and went to the valley, and there stood our Father's glory, like the glory I saw by the Chebar canal, and I fell facedown.
24 The Spirit entered me, set me on my feet, spoke with me, and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie cords on you and bind you with them, so you cannot go out among the people.
26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth; you will be mute, 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 tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign Father says.' Whoever listens, listens; whoever refuses, refuses—for they are a rebellious house.
