Ezekiel 3
Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; aeat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
3 And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I aate, and it was in my mouth blike honey in sweetness.
4 Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, ahad I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, abecause they will not listen to Me; bfor all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 aLike adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; bdo not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”
10 Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, a‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”
12 Then athe Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the bglory of the Lord from His place!” 13 I also heard the anoise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but athe hand of the Lord was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and aI sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
Ezekiel Is a Watchman
16 Now it acame to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 a“Son of man, I have made you ba watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them cwarning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man ashall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; abut you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a arighteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
22 aThen the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out binto the plain, and there I shall talk with you.”
23 So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, athe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I bsaw by the River Chebar; cand I fell on my face. 24 Then athe Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, O son of man, surely athey will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them. 26 aI will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and bnot be one to rebuke them, cfor they are a rebellious house. 27 aBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, b‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
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