The Responsibility of the Prophet

3 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^(A)eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, ^(A)“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, ^(B)and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, ^(C)my stomach became bitter.

^17 (A)“Son of man, I have made you ^(B)a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them ^(C)warning 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 ^(D)shall 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; ^(E)but you have delivered your soul.

²⁰ “Again, when a ^(F)righteous 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.”

⁸ But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^(A)eat what I give you.”

⁹ Now when I looked, there was ^(B)a hand stretched out to me; and behold, ^(C)a scroll of a book was in it.

¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.