Ezekiel 3
Living Bible
3 And he said to me: “Son of dust, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.”
2 So I took the scroll.
3 “Eat it all,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted sweet as honey.
4 Then he said: “Son of dust, I am sending you to the people of Israel with my messages. 5 I am not sending you to some far-off foreign land where you can’t understand the language— 6 no, not to tribes with strange, difficult tongues. (If I did, they would listen!) 7 I am sending you to the people of Israel, and they won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard, impudent, and stubborn. 8 But see, I have made you hard and stubborn too—as tough as they are. 9 I have made your forehead as hard as rock. So don’t be afraid of them, or fear their sullen, angry looks, even though they are such rebels.”
10 Then he added: “Son of dust, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first; listen to them carefully for yourself. 11 Then, afterward, go to your people in exile, and whether or not they will listen, tell them: ‘This is what the Lord God says!’”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and the glory of the Lord began to move away, accompanied by the sound of a great earthquake.[a] 13 It was the noise of the wings of the living beings as they touched against each other, and the sound of their wheels beside them.
14-15 The Spirit lifted me up, and took me away to Tel Abib, another colony of Jewish exiles beside the Chebar River. I went in bitterness and anger,[b] but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. And I sat among them, overwhelmed, for seven days.
16 At the end of the seven days, the Lord said to me:
17 “Son of dust, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel; whenever I send my people a warning, pass it on to them at once. 18 If you refuse to warn the wicked when I want you to tell them, ‘You are under the penalty of death; therefore repent and save your life,’ they will die in their sins, but I will punish you. I will demand your blood for theirs. 19 But if you warn them, and they keep on sinning and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins, but you are blameless—you have done all you could. 20 And if a good man becomes bad, and you refuse to warn him of the consequences, and the Lord destroys him, his previous good deeds won’t help him—he shall die in his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his death and punish you. 21 But if you warn him and he repents, he shall live, and you have saved your own life too.”
22 I was helpless in the hand of God, and when he said to me, “Go out into the valley and I will talk to you there”— 23 I arose and went, and oh, I saw the glory of the Lord there, just as in my first vision! And I fell to the ground on my face.
24 Then the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. He talked to me and said: “Go, imprison yourself in your house, 25 and I will paralyze you[c] so you can’t leave; 26 and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you can’t reprove them; for they are rebels. 27 But whenever I give you a message, then I will loosen your tongue and let you speak, and you shall say to them: ‘The Lord God says.’ Let anyone listen who wants to, and let anyone refuse who wants to, for they are rebels.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:12 accompanied by the sound of a great earthquake, literally, “I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake.”
- Ezekiel 3:14 I went in bitterness and anger, literally, “I went in the heat of my spirit”—not necessarily anger, but indicated here by this reaction.
- Ezekiel 3:25 paralyze you, literally, “lay bands upon you.”
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”
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