Ezekiel 3
Easy-to-Read Version
3 God said to me, “Son of man,[a] eat what you see. Eat this scroll, and then go tell these things to the family of Israel.”
2 So I opened my mouth and he put the scroll into my mouth. 3 Then God said, “Son of man, I am giving you this scroll. Swallow it! Let that scroll fill your body.”
So I ate the scroll. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 Then God said to me, “Son of man, go to the family of Israel. Speak my words to them. 5 I am not sending you to some foreigners you cannot understand. You don’t have to learn another language. I am sending you to the family of Israel. 6 I am not sending you to many different countries where people speak languages you cannot understand. If you went to those people and spoke to them, they would listen to you. But you will not have to learn those hard languages. 7 No, I am sending you to the family of Israel. Only, these people have hard heads—they are very stubborn! And the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you. They don’t want to listen to me. 8 But I will make you just as stubborn as they are, and your head just as hard. 9 A diamond is harder than flint rock. In the same way you will be more stubborn than they are, and your head will be harder. Then you will not be afraid of them or those who always turn against me.”
10 Then God said to me, “Son of man, listen to every word I say to you and remember them. 11 Then go to all of your people in exile and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says ….’ They will not listen, and they will not stop sinning, but you must still tell them my message.”
12 Then the Spirit[b] lifted me up, and I heard a voice behind me. It was very loud, like thunder. It said, “Blessed is the Glory of the Lord!” 13 Then the wings of the living beings began moving. The wings made a very loud noise as they touched each other, and the wheels in front of them began making a noise as loud as thunder. 14 The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I was very sad and upset in my spirit, but I felt the Lord’s power in me. 15 I went to the people of Israel who were forced to live in Tel Aviv[c] by the Kebar Canal. I sat there among them for seven days, shocked and silent.
The Watchman of Israel
16 After seven days, the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 17 “Son of man, I am making you a watchman for Israel. I will tell you about bad things that will happen to them, and you must warn Israel. 18 If I say, ‘These evil people will die!’ Then you must warn them. You must tell them to change their lives and stop doing evil. If you don’t warn them, they will die because they sinned. But I will also make you responsible for their death, because you did not go to them and save their lives.
19 “If you warn them and tell them to change their lives and stop doing evil, but they refuse to listen, they will die because they sinned. But since you warned them, you will have saved your own life.
20 “If good people stop being good and begin to do evil, and I send something that makes them stumble and sin, they will die because they sinned. But since you did not warn them and remind them of the good things they had done, I will make you responsible for their death.
21 “But if you warn good people and tell them to stop sinning, and they listen to your warning and stop sinning, they will not die. In that way you will have saved your own life.”
22 The Lord’s power came to me. He said to me, “Get up and go to the valley.[d] I will speak to you in that place.”
23 So I got up and went out to the valley. The Glory of the Lord was there—as I had seen it by the Kebar Canal. So I bowed with my face to the ground. 24 But the Spirit came into me and lifted me up on my feet. He said to me, “Go home and lock yourself in your house. 25 Son of man, people will come with ropes and tie you up. They will not let you go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth—you will not be able to talk. So they will not have anyone to teach them that they are doing wrong, because they are always turning against me. 27 But I will talk to you, and then I will allow you to speak. But you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ If a person wants to listen, fine. If a person refuses to listen, fine. But those people always turn against me.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:1 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person” or “a human being.” Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel. Also in verses 3, 4, 10, 17, 25.
- Ezekiel 3:12 Spirit Or “wind.” Also in verse 24.
- Ezekiel 3:15 Tel Aviv This was a place outside of Israel. The name means “Spring Hill.”
- Ezekiel 3:22 the valley Possibly, Jezreel Valley, a fertile area where many battles were fought. It is often called simply “The Valley.”
Ezekiel 3
Amplified Bible
Ezekiel’s Commission
3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find [in this book]; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. 5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you and pay attention to My message; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you and obey you, since they are not willing to listen to Me and obey Me, for the entire house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead like emery (diamond), harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”(A) 10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and hear with your ears (listen closely). 11 Go to the [Jewish] exiles [in Babylon], to the children of your people, and speak to them, whether they listen or not, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rushing sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place [above the expanse].” 13 And then I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings as they touched one another and [I heard] the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rushing sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went embittered [by the sins of Israel] in the rage of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong on me. 15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the River Chebar at Tel Abib. I sat there for seven days [in the place] where they were living, overwhelmed with astonishment [by my vision and the work before me].
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.(B) 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to tell him to turn from his wicked way to save his life, that same evil man will die in his sin, but you will be responsible for his blood. 19 However, if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he will die in his sin; but you have [a]freed yourself [from responsibility]. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness (right standing with God) and sins, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but you will be responsible for his blood. 21 However, if you have warned the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning; also you have [b]freed yourself [from responsibility].”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out to the plain, and I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell face downward. 24 Then the Spirit entered me and made me stand on my feet; He spoke and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot talk and you cannot be a man who rebukes the people, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses [to hear], let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:19 Lit delivered.
- Ezekiel 3:21 Lit delivered.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
