Ezekiel 3 (New American Standard)

Ezekiel's Commission

1 Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find ; ¹eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I ²opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and ³fill your ^abody with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ⁴ate it, and it was sweet as ⁵honey in my mouth. 4 Then He said to me, "Son of man, ^bgo to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 "For ⁶you are not being sent to a people of ^c7unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 nor to many peoples of ^dunintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. ^eBut I have sent you to them ^fwho should listen to you; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are ⁸not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is ^gstubborn and obstinate . 8 "Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 "Like ^hemery 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." 10 Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, take into your heart all My ⁹words which I will speak to you and listen ⁱclosely. 11 "^jGo to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or ^knot, 'Thus says the Lord ^lGOD.' " 12 Then the ¹⁰Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ¹¹rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD ^min His place." 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the ¹²wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and ¹³the hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there ¹⁴seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them. 16 ¹⁵At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 "Son of man, I have appointed you a ¹⁶watchman to the house of Israel ; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ¹⁷warn them from Me. 18 "When 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 ¹⁸blood I will require at your hand. 19 "Yet if you have ¹⁹warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity ; but you have ²⁰delivered yourself. 20 "Again, ²¹when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an ²²obstacle 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. 21 "However, if you have ²³warned ⁿthe 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." 22 The hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, "Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will ²⁴speak to you." 23 So I got up and went out to the plain ; and behold, the ²⁵glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which ²⁶I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 The ²⁷Spirit 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. 25 "As for you, son of man, they will ²⁸put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 "Moreover, ²⁹I will make your tongue stick to ^othe roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 "But ³⁰when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, 'Thus says the Lord ^pGOD.' He who hears, let him hear ; and he who refuses, let him refuse ; ³¹for they are a rebellious house.