⁴ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)the Ammonites and prophesy against them.

^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward Jerusalem and ^(C)preach against the sanctuaries.^[a] Prophesy against the land of Israel

^46 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward the southland;^{[a] (C)}preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. ⁴⁷ Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, ^(D)I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every ^(E)green tree in you and every ^(F)dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and ^(G)all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it.

^17 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(C)give them warning from me. ^18 (D)If I say to the wicked, ^(E)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(F)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^(G)shall die for^[a] his iniquity, ^(H)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (I)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^(J)but you ^(K)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (L)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(M)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(N)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(O)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(P)but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^(A)Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^(B)as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, ^(C)“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 foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^(D)Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ^7 (E)But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^(F)have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ^8 (G)Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^(H)emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^(I)Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^(J)all my words that I shall speak to you receive ^(K)in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go to the exiles, ^(L)to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(M)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^(N)whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

^12 (O)Then the Spirit^[a] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice^[b] of ^(P)a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of ^(Q)the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^(R)a great earthquake. ^14 (S)The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ^(T)hand of the Lord being strong upon me. ^15 (U)And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^(V)by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.^[c] And ^(W)I sat there ^(X)overwhelmed among them ^(Y)seven days.

True and False Fasting