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Ezekiel 3-4
New English Translation

3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you[a]—eat this scroll—and then go and 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, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it,[b] and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

4 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[c] and difficult language,[d] but[e] to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand.[f] Surely if[g] I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you,[h] because they are not willing to listen to me,[i] for the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.[j]

8 “I have made your face adamant[k] to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead harder than flint—like diamond![l] Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you,[m] for they are a rebellious house.”

10 And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully. 11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen,[n] and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

12 Then a wind lifted me up[o] and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place,[p] 13 and the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound. 14 A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly,[q] my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully[r] on me. 15 I came to the exiles at Tel Abib,[s] who lived by the Kebar River.[t] I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days.[u]

16 At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman[v] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’[w] and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity,[x] but I will hold you accountable for his death.[y] 19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.[z]

20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle[aa] before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he[ab] does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Isolated and Silenced

22 The hand[ac] of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley,[ad] and I will speak with you there.” 23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,[ae] and I threw myself face down.

24 Then a wind[af] came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord[ag] spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove[ah] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue[ai] and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse,[aj] for they are a rebellious house.

Ominous Object Lessons

4 “And you, son of man, take a brick[ak] and set it in front of you. Inscribe[al] a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp[am] against it! Post soldiers outside it[an] and station battering rams around it. 3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan[ao] and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign[ap] for the house of Israel.

4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity[aq] of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days[ar] for you—390 days.[as] So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.[at]

6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days[au]—I have assigned one day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8 Look here: I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.[av]

9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,[aw] put them in a single container, and make food[ax] from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side—390 days[ay]—you will eat it. 10 The food you eat will be eight ounces[az] a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.[ba] 11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;[bb] you must drink it at fixed times. 12 And you must eat the food as you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”[bc] 13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations[bd] where I will banish them.”

14 And I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat[be] has never entered my mouth.”

15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”

16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply[bf] in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.[bg]

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:1 tn Heb “eat what you find.”
  2. Ezekiel 3:3 tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.sn I ate it. A similar idea of consuming God’s word is found in Jer 15:16 and Rev 10:10, where it is also compared to honey and may be specifically reminiscent of this text.
  3. Ezekiel 3:5 tn Heb “deep of lip” (in the sense of incomprehensible).
  4. Ezekiel 3:5 tn Heb “heavy of tongue.” Similar language occurs in Exod 4:10 and Isa 33:19.
  5. Ezekiel 3:5 tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied from the context.
  6. Ezekiel 3:6 tn Heb “hear.”
  7. Ezekiel 3:6 tc The MT reads: “if not,” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9 and 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.
  8. Ezekiel 3:7 sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.
  9. Ezekiel 3:7 sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.
  10. Ezekiel 3:7 tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”
  11. Ezekiel 3:8 tn Heb “strong, resolute.”
  12. Ezekiel 3:9 tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.
  13. Ezekiel 3:9 tn Heb “of their faces.”
  14. Ezekiel 3:11 tn Heb “to the sons of your people.”
  15. Ezekiel 3:12 sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.
  16. Ezekiel 3:12 tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (berum, “in the lifting”) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaf (כ) were easily confused in the old script, while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) implies a quotation, which is out of place here. The word also does not fit the later phrase “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.
  17. Ezekiel 3:14 tn The traditional interpretation is that Ezekiel embarked on his mission with bitterness and anger, either reflecting God’s attitude toward the sinful people or his own feelings about having to carry out such an unpleasant task. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:13) takes “bitterly” as a misplaced marginal note and understands the following word, normally translated “anger,” in the sense of fervor or passion. He translates, “I was passionately moved” (p. 4). Another option is to take the word translated “bitterly” as a verb meaning “strengthened” (attested in Ugaritic). See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 152.
  18. Ezekiel 3:14 tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was on me heavily.” The “hand of the Lord” is a metaphor for his power or influence; the modifier conveys intensity. sn In Ezekiel God’s “hand” being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
  19. Ezekiel 3:15 sn The name “Tel Abib” is a transliteration of an Akkadian term meaning “mound of the flood,” i.e., an ancient mound. It is not to be confused with the modern city of Tel Aviv in Israel.
  20. Ezekiel 3:15 tn Or “canal.”
  21. Ezekiel 3:15 sn A similar response to a divine encounter is found in Acts 9:8-9.
  22. Ezekiel 3:17 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24 and 2 Kgs 9:17.
  23. Ezekiel 3:18 sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.
  24. Ezekiel 3:18 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
  25. Ezekiel 3:18 tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).
  26. Ezekiel 3:19 tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.
  27. Ezekiel 3:20 tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.
  28. Ezekiel 3:21 tn Heb “the righteous man.”
  29. Ezekiel 3:22 tn Or “power.” sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
  30. Ezekiel 3:22 sn Ezekiel had another vision at this location, recounted in Ezek 37.
  31. Ezekiel 3:23 tn Or “canal.”
  32. Ezekiel 3:24 tn See the note on “wind” in 2:2.
  33. Ezekiel 3:24 tn Heb “he.”
  34. Ezekiel 3:26 tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.
  35. Ezekiel 3:27 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
  36. Ezekiel 3:27 tn Heb “the listener will listen, and the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens—let that one listen, the one who refuses—let that one refuse.”
  37. Ezekiel 4:1 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13½ inches wide.
  38. Ezekiel 4:1 tn Or perhaps “draw.”
  39. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Or “a barricade.”
  40. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
  41. Ezekiel 4:3 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
  42. Ezekiel 4:3 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
  43. Ezekiel 4:4 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
  44. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.
  45. Ezekiel 4:5 tc The LXX reads “190 days.” sn The significance of the number 390 is not clear. The best explanation is that “days” are used figuratively for years and the number refers to the years of the sinfulness of Israel during the period of the First Temple. Some understand the number to refer to the length of the division of the northern and southern kingdoms down to the fall of Jerusalem (931-586 b.c.), but this adds up to only 345 years.
  46. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
  47. Ezekiel 4:6 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile, indicating the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
  48. Ezekiel 4:8 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
  49. Ezekiel 4:9 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
  50. Ezekiel 4:9 tn Heb “bread.”
  51. Ezekiel 4:9 tc The LXX reads: “190 days.”
  52. Ezekiel 4:10 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
  53. Ezekiel 4:10 tn Heb “from time to time.”
  54. Ezekiel 4:11 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
  55. Ezekiel 4:12 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
  56. Ezekiel 4:13 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
  57. Ezekiel 4:14 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
  58. Ezekiel 4:16 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
  59. Ezekiel 4:17 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
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Ezekiel 3-4
New International Version

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, 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 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate(A) it, and it tasted as sweet as honey(B) in my mouth.

4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.(C) 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,(D) but to the people of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.(E) 7 But the people of Israel are not willing to listen(F) to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.(G) 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.(H) 9 I will make your forehead(I) like the hardest stone, harder than flint.(J) Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.(K)”

10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart(L) all the words I speak to you. 11 Go(M) now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’(N) whether they listen or fail to listen.(O)”

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up,(P) and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.[a] 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures(Q) brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.(R) 14 The Spirit(S) then lifted me up(T) and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord(U) on me. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.(V) And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days(W)—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:(X) 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman(Y) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.(Z) 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,(AA)’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[b] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.(AB) 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn(AC) from their wickedness(AD) or from their evil ways, they will die(AE) for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.(AF)

20 “Again, when a righteous person turns(AG) from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block(AH) before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.(AI) 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.(AJ)”

22 The hand of the Lord(AK) was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go(AL) out to the plain,(AM) and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,(AN) and I fell facedown.(AO)

24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me(AP) to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.(AQ) 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.(AR) 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof(AS) of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.(AT) 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’(AU) Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.(AV)

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp(AW) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.(AX) 3 Then take an iron pan,(AY) place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward(AZ) it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign(BA) to the people of Israel.(BB)

4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.[c] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin(BC) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.(BD) 7 Turn your face(BE) toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.(BF)

9 “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;(BG) put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels[d](BH) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin[e] of water and drink it at set times.(BI) 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement(BJ) for fuel.” 13 The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”(BK)

14 Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!(BL) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead(BM) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.(BN)”

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off(BO) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,(BP) 17 for food and water will be scarce.(BQ) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of[f] their sin.(BR)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:12 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text sound—may the glory of the Lord be praised from his place
  2. Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20
  3. Ezekiel 4:4 Or upon your side
  4. Ezekiel 4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
  5. Ezekiel 4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter
  6. Ezekiel 4:17 Or away in
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