Ezekiel 3:1-17

1 And he said to me, Son of man, eat thou whatever thing thou findest (before thee), eat thou this volume; and go thou, and speak to the sons of Israel. (And he said to me, Son of man, eat thou whatever thing thou findest before thee, yea, eat thou this book/yea, eat thou this scroll; and then go thou, and speak to the Israelites.)

2 And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that volume. (And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that book/and he fed me with that scroll.)

3 And he said to me, Son of man, thy womb shall eat, and thine entrails shall be filled with this volume, which I give to thee. And I ate it, and it was made as sweet honey in my mouth. (And he said to me, Son of man, make thy womb to eat, and thy bowels to be filled with this book/with this scroll, which I give thee. And I ate it, and it was made as sweet as honey in my mouth.)

4 And he said to me, Son of man, go thou to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.

5 For thou shalt not be sent to a people of high word, and of unknown language; thou shalt be sent to the house of Israel,

6 neither to many peoples of high word, and of unknown language, of which thou mayest not hear the words. And if thou were sent to them, they should hear thee. (nor to great peoples of difficult and unknown languages, of which thou cannot understand the words. Though if thou had been sent to them, they would have listened to thee.)

7 But the house of Israel will not hear thee, for they will not hear me. For all the house of Israel is of defouled, either of unshamefast, forehead, and of hard heart. (But the house of Israel will not listen to thee, for they will not listen to me. For all the house of Israel is of defiled, or of defiant, face, and of hard, or stubborn, heart.)

8 Lo! I gave thy face stronger than the faces of them, and thy forehead harder than the foreheads of them. (Lo! I made thy face stronger than their faces, and thy head harder than their heads, or thy stubbornness stronger than their stubbornness.)

9 And I gave thy face as an adamant, and as a flint; dread thou not them, neither dread thou of the face of them, for it is an house stirring to wrath. (And I made thy face like adamant, yea, harder than flint; do not thou fear them, nor fear thou their faces, though it is a house stirring me to anger.)

10 And he said to me, Son of man, take in thine heart, and hear with thine ears all these my words, which I speak to thee.

11 And go thou, and enter to the passing over, to the sons of thy people. And thou shalt speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, if peradventure they hear, and rest. (And go thou, and enter in to the exiles, or to the captives, to the nation of thy people. And thou shalt speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, whether they listen to you or not, The Lord God saith these things.)

12 And the spirit took me, and I heard after me the voice of a great moving. The blessed glory of the Lord was heard from his place; (And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing, as the blessed glory of the Lord was heard from his place;)

13 and I heard the voice of (the) wings of the beasts smiting one another, and the voice of (the) wheels following the beasts, and the voice of a great stirring. (and I heard the sound of the wings of the creatures, striking one another, and the sound of the wheels following the creatures, and the sound of a great stirring.)

14 Also the spirit raised me, and took me. And I went forth bitter in the indignation of my spirit; for the hand of the Lord was with me, and comforted me (And the spirit raised me up, and took me away. And I went forth in the bitterness and the anger of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was with me, and was strong upon me.)

15 And I came to the passing over, to the heap of new fruits, to them that dwelled beside the flood Chebar. And I sat where they sat, and I dwelled there seven days, wailing, in the midst of them. (And I came to the exiles, or to the captives, at Telabib, to those who lived by the Chebar River. And I sat where they sat, and I stayed there seven days, wailing, in the midst of them.)

16 Forsooth when seven days were passed, the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

17 Son of man, I gave thee to be an espyer, or a beholder, to the house of Israel. And thou shalt hear of my mouth a word, and thou shalt tell [it] to them of me. (Son of man, I gave thee to be a lookout, or a watchman, to the house of Israel. And thou shalt hear a word from my mouth, and thou shalt tell it to them for me.)

Ezekiel 3:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 3

This chapter contains a further account of the prophet's call and mission; of his preparation of him for is work; of, the persons to whom he was sent; of what happened to him upon this; of the nature of his office, and the work of it; and of what followed upon the renewal of his call. His further preparation for prophesying is in Eze 3:1-3; where he is bid to eat the roll showed him, which he did, and found it in his mouth as honey for sweetness; and then he receives fresh orders to go to the people of Israel, and prophesy to them, Eze 3:4; and, that he might not be discouraged, an account is given beforehand of the people to whom he was sent; of their language, behaviour, and disposition; by which he could not expect success, Eze 3:5-7; and, for his further encouragement, strength, boldness, resolution, firmness, and presence of mind, are promised him, Eze 3:8,9; also a revelation of mere things to him; all which he should hear, receive, and speak, whether the people would attend to them or not; which ought to be no discouragement to him, since it was not regarded by the Lord, Eze 3:10,11; then follows an account of his being lifted up by the Spirit from the earth, when he heard a voice, which is described by the manner and matter of it; and a noise, both of the living creature's wings, and of the wheels he had seen in a former vision, Eze 3:12,13; and next of his being carried away by the same Spirit; and of the condition he was in, in his own spirit, as he went; and of the strength he received from the Lord; and of the place to which he, was carried; and his state and circumstances, and time of continuance there, Eze 3:14,15; where, after a time mentioned, he has a fresh call to his office, under the character of a watchman, whose business was to hear Christ's words, and warn the house of Israel from him; and who are distinguished into wicked and righteous; and whom the prophet was to warn at his own peril, Eze 3:16-21; and the chapter is concluded with a narration of various events which befell the prophet; he is bid by the Lord to go into the plain, which he did, and there saw the glory of the Lord, as he had before seen it at the river Chebar; which so affected him, that he fell upon his face, Eze 3:22,23; the spirit entered into him, let him on his feet, and spake with him; ordered him what he should do himself, that he should shut himself up in his house, Eze 3:24; informed him what the people would do to him; bind him with bands, that he should not come forth, Eze 3:25; and what Christ would do to him; strike him dumb in judgment to the people, that he might not be a reprover of them, Eze 3:26; but he is told that, when the Lord spoke to him; his mouth should be opened, and he should declare what was said to him, Eze 3:27.