3 Then the Lord said to me, “Human, eat what you find; eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ He said to me, “Human, eat this scroll which I am giving you, and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ Then he said to me, “Human, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them. ⁵ You are not being sent to people whose speech you can’t understand, whose language is difficult. You are being sent to Israel. ⁶ You are not being sent to many nations whose speech you can’t understand, whose language is difficult, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me. Yes, all the people of Israel are stubborn and will not obey. ⁸ See, I now make you as stubborn and as hard as they are. ⁹ I am making you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don’t be afraid of them or be frightened by them, though they are a people who turn against me.”

¹⁰ Also, he said to me, “Human, believe all the words I will speak to you, and listen carefully to them. ¹¹ Then go to the captives, your own people, and say to them, ‘The Lord God says this.’ Tell them this whether they listen or not.”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me, saying, “Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven.” ¹³ I heard the wings of the living creatures touching each other and the sound of the wheels by them. It was a loud rumbling sound. ¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I was unhappy and angry, and I felt the great power of the Lord. ¹⁵ I came to the captives from Judah, who lived by the Kebar River at Tel Abib. I sat there seven days where these people lived, feeling shocked.

Israel’s Warning

¹⁶ After seven days the Lord spoke his word to me again. He said, ¹⁷ “Human, I now make you a watchman for Israel. Any time you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me. ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ you must warn them so they may live. If you don’t speak out to warn the wicked to stop their evil ways, they will die in their sin. But I will hold you responsible for their death. ¹⁹ If you warn the wicked and they do not turn from their wickedness or their evil ways, they will die because of their sin. But you will have saved your life.

²⁰ “Again, those who do right may turn away from doing good and do evil. If I make something bad happen to them, they will die. Because you have not warned them, they will die because of their sin, and the good they did will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for their deaths. ²¹ But if you have warned those good people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live, because they believed the warning. And you will have saved your life.”

²² Then I felt the power of the Lord there. He said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain. There I will speak to you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain. I saw the glory of the Lord standing there, like the glory I saw by the Kebar River, and I bowed facedown on the ground.

²⁴ Then the Spirit entered me and made me stand on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ²⁵ As for you, human, the people will tie you up with ropes so that you will not be able to go out among them. ²⁶ Also, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you will be silent. You will not be able to argue with the people, even though they turn against me. ²⁷ But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘The Lord God says this.’ Those who will listen, let them listen. Those who refuse, let them refuse, because they are a people who turn against me.