Ezekiel 3
Lexham English Bible
3 And he said to me, “Son of man,[a] what you find, eat! Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 And I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat, 3 and he said to me, “Son of man,[b] you must give your stomach this to eat, and you must fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving to you.” And I ate, and it became like sweet honey[c] in my mouth. 4 And he said to me, “Son of man,[d] come! Go to the house of Israel, and you must speak to them with my words. 5 For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people of obscure speech[e] and of a difficult language,[f] 6 and not to many nations of obscure speech[g] and a difficult language[h] whose words[i] you do not understand, for if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you. 7 And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they are hard of heart. 8 But look, I have made[j] your face hard against[k] their faces and your forehead hard against[l] their forehead. 9 Like a diamond harder than flint[m] I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed on account of them,[n] for they are a rebellious house.[o] 10 And he said to me, “Son of man,[p] all of my words that I shall speak to you, receive into[q] your heart and hear with your ears. 11 And come, go to the exiles,[r] to the children[s] of your people, and you must speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ whether they listen or whether they fail to listen.” 12 And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake when the glory of Yahweh rose from its place. 13 And it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching lightly[t] one against the other,[u] and the sound of the wheels beside them and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 And the Spirit lifted me and took me, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15 And I went to the exiles[v] at Tel Abib, who were dwelling near the Kebar River,[w] and I sat where they were dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned. 16 And then it happened[x] at the end of seven days, the word of Yahweh came[y] to me, saying, 17 “Son of man,[z] I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. 18 When I say[aa] to the wicked, ‘Surely you will die,’ and you do not warn him and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live,[ab] that wicked person will die because of his guilt, and from your hand I will seek his blood. 19 And you, if you do warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.[ac] 20 And when the righteous turns from his righteousness[ad] and does injustice, and I place[ae] a stumbling block before him,[af] he will die, for you did not warn him. Because of his sin he will die, and his righteousness[ag] that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I shall seek from your hand. 21 And if you warn him, the righteous, not to sin, and the righteous does not sin, surely he will live, for he heeded a warning. And you will have saved your life.”[ah]
22 And the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and he said to me, “Rise up, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 And I rose up, and I went to the valley, and, look, there the glory of Yahweh was standing, like the glory that I saw near the Kebar River,[ai] and I fell on my face. 24 And the Spirit[aj] came into me, and it made me stand on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Come, shut yourself inside your house,[ak] 25 and you, son of man,[al] look, they will place[am] cords on you, and they will tie you up with them. Then you will not go out into the midst of them. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silenced, and you will not be a reproving man for them, for they are a rebellious house.[an] 27 And when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The one hearing him, let him hear, and the one failing to hear, let him fail,”’ for they are a rebellious house.[ao]
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:1 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:3 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:3 Literally “like honey for sweetness”
- Ezekiel 3:4 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:5 Literally “obscure of lip”
- Ezekiel 3:5 Literally “heavy/thick of tongue”
- Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “obscure of tongue”
- Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “heavy/thick of tongue”
- Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “their words”
- Ezekiel 3:8 Or “set”
- Ezekiel 3:8 Literally “to correspond to”
- Ezekiel 3:8 Literally “to correspond to”
- Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “hard more than flint”
- Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “from the face of them”
- Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “are a house of rebellion”
- Ezekiel 3:10 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:10 Hebrew “in”
- Ezekiel 3:11 Hebrew “exile”
- Ezekiel 3:11 Or “sons”
- Ezekiel 3:13 Or “brushing against”
- Ezekiel 3:13 Literally “each against each its sister
- Ezekiel 3:15 Hebrew “exile”
- Ezekiel 3:15 Literally “river of Kebar”
- Ezekiel 3:16 Or “was”
- Ezekiel 3:16 Literally “and it was the word of Yahweh to me to say saying”
- Ezekiel 3:17 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:18 Literally “at/in my saying”
- Ezekiel 3:18 Literally “so that you let him live”
- Ezekiel 3:19 Or “soul,” or “self”
- Ezekiel 3:20 Literally “and at the to turn of the righteous from his righteousness”
- Ezekiel 3:20 Or “give”
- Ezekiel 3:20 Literally “to the face of him”
- Ezekiel 3:20 Or “righteous deeds”
- Ezekiel 3:21 Or “soul,” or “self”
- Ezekiel 3:23 Literally “river of Kebar”
- Ezekiel 3:24 Or “a spirit”
- Ezekiel 3:24 Literally “in the midst of your house”
- Ezekiel 3:25 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 3:25 Or “give”
- Ezekiel 3:26 Literally “a house of rebellion”
- Ezekiel 3:27 Literally “a house of rebellion”
Ezekiel 3
Christian Standard Bible
3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll,(A) then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. 3 “Son of man,” he said to me, “feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it,(B) and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.(C)
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 a difficult language but to the house of Israel— 6 not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech or a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.(D) 7 But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me.(E) For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted. 8 Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.(F) 9 I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, though they are a rebellious house.”
10 Next he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully to all my words that I speak to you and take them to heart. 11 Go to your people, the exiles, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”(G)
12 The Spirit then lifted me up,(H) and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me—bless the glory of the Lord in his place!— 13 with the[a] sound of the living creatures’ wings brushing against each other(I) and the sound of the wheels beside them,(J) a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I left in bitterness and in an angry spirit, and the Lord’s hand was on me powerfully.(K) 15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were living by the Chebar Canal, and I sat there among them stunned for seven days.(L)
Ezekiel as a Watchman
16 Now at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:(M) 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel.(N) When you hear a word from my mouth, give them a warning from me.(O) 18 If I say to the wicked person,(P) ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.(Q) 20 Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly,(R) and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die.(S) If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. 21 But if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have rescued yourself.”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain,(T) and I will speak with you there.”(U) 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. The Lord’s glory was present there,(V) like the glory I had seen by the Chebar Canal,(W) and I fell facedown. 24 The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet.(X) He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you(Y) and bind you with them so you cannot go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth,(Z) and you will be mute(AA) and unable to be a mediator for[b] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth,(AB) and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse—for they are a rebellious house.
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