3 ^(A) The Lord said, “Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel.”

^2-3 He handed me the scroll and said, “Eat this and fill up on it.” So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey.

⁴ The Lord said:

Ezekiel, I am sending you to your own people. ^5-6 They are Israelites, not some strangers who speak a foreign language you can't understand. If I were to send you to foreign nations, they would listen to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel will refuse to listen, because they have refused to listen to me. All of them are stubborn and hardheaded, ⁸ so I will make you as stubborn as they are. ⁹ You will be so determined to speak my message that nothing will stop you. I will make you hard like a diamond, and you'll have no reason to be afraid of those arrogant rebels.

¹⁰ Listen carefully to everything I say and then think about it. ¹¹ Then go to the people who were brought here to Babylonia with you and tell them you have a message from me, the Lord God. Do this, whether they listen to you or not.

¹² The Spirit^[a] lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord started to leave,^[b] I heard a loud, thundering noise behind me. ¹³ It was the sound made by the creatures' wings as they brushed against each other, and by the rumble of the wheels beside them. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit carried me away.

The Lord's power had taken complete control of me, and I was both annoyed and angry.

¹⁵ When I was back with the others living at Abib Hill near the Chebar River, I sat among them for seven days, shocked at what had happened to me.

The Lord Appoints Ezekiel To Stand Watch

(Ezekiel 33.1-9)

¹⁶ Seven days after I had seen the brightness of the Lord's glory, the Lord said:

¹⁷ Ezekiel, son of man, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me. ¹⁸ When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways so they won't be punished. If you refuse, you are responsible for their death. ¹⁹ However, if you do warn them, and they keep on sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.

²⁰ Now suppose faithful people start sinning, and I decide to put stumbling blocks in their paths to make them fall. They deserve to die because of their sins. So if you refuse to warn them, I will forget about the times they were faithful, and I will hold you responsible for their death. ²¹ But if you do warn them, and they listen to you and stop sinning, I will let them live. And you will be innocent.

Ezekiel Cannot Talk

²² The Lord took control of me and said, “Stand up! Go into the valley, and I will talk with you there.”

²³ I immediately went to the valley, where I saw the brightness of the Lord's glory, just as I had seen it near the Chebar River, and I bowed with my face to the ground. ²⁴ His Spirit took control of me and lifted me to my feet. Then the Lord said:

Go back and lock yourself in your house! ²⁵ You will be tied up to keep you inside, ²⁶ and I will make you unable to talk or to warn those who have rebelled against me. ²⁷ But the time will come, when I will tell you what to say, and you will again be able to speak my message.^[c] Some of them will listen; others will be stubborn and refuse to listen.

Those Who Sin Will Die

18 The Lord said:

^2 (A) Ezekiel, I hear the people of Israel using the old saying,

³ Now tell them that I am the Lord God, and as surely as I live, that saying will no longer be used in Israel. ⁴ The lives of all people belong to me—parents as well as children. However, only those who sin will be put to death.

⁵ Suppose there is a truly good man who always does what is fair and right. ⁶ He refuses to eat meat sacrificed to foreign gods at local shrines or to worship Israel's idols. He doesn't have sex with someone else's wife or with a woman having her monthly period. ⁷ He never cheats or robs anyone and always returns anything taken as security for a loan; he gives food and clothes to the poor ⁸ and doesn't charge interest when lending money. He refuses to do anything evil; he is fair to everyone ^9 (B) and faithfully obeys my laws and teachings. This man is good, and I promise he will live.

¹⁰ But suppose this good man has an evil son who is violent and commits sins ¹¹ his father never did. He eats meat at local shrines, has sex with someone else's wife, ¹² cheats the poor, and robs people. He keeps what is given to him as security for a loan. He worships idols, does disgusting things, ¹³ and charges high interest when lending money. An evil man like that will certainly not live. He is the one who has done these horrible sins, so it's his own fault that he will be put to death.

¹⁴ But suppose this evil man has a son who sees his father do these things and refuses to act like him. ¹⁵ He doesn't eat meat at local shrines or worship Israel's idols, and he doesn't have sex with someone else's wife. ¹⁶ He never cheats or robs anyone and doesn't even demand security for a loan. He gives food and clothes to the poor ¹⁷ and refuses to do anything evil^[a] or to charge interest. And he obeys all my laws and teachings. Such a man will live. His own father sinned, but this good man will not be put to death for the sins of his father. ¹⁸ It is his father who will die for cheating and robbing and doing evil.

¹⁹ You may wonder why a son isn't punished for the sins of his father. It is because the son does what is right and obeys my laws. ^20 (C) Only those who sin will be put to death. Children won't suffer for the sins of their parents, and parents won't suffer for the sins of their children. Good people will be rewarded for what they do, and evil people will be punished for what they do.

²¹ Suppose wicked people stop sinning and start obeying my laws and doing right. They won't be put to death. ²² All their sins will be forgiven, and they will live because they did right. ²³ I, the Lord God, don't like to see wicked people die. I had much rather see them turn back from their sins and live.

²⁴ But when good people start sinning and doing disgusting things, will they live? No! All their good deeds will be forgotten, and they will be put to death because of their sins.

²⁵ You people of Israel accuse me of being unfair! But listen—I'm not unfair; you are! ²⁶ If good people start doing evil, they must be put to death, because they have sinned. ²⁷ And if wicked people start doing right, they will save themselves from punishment. ²⁸ They will think about what they've done and stop sinning, and so they won't be put to death. ²⁹ But you still say that I am unfair. You are the ones who have done wrong and are unfair!

³⁰ I will judge each of you for what you've done. So stop sinning, or else you will certainly be punished. ³¹ Give up your evil ways and start thinking pure thoughts. And be faithful to me! Do you really want to be put to death for your sins? ^32 (D) I, the Lord God, don't want to see that happen to anyone. So stop sinning and live!