Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language but to the house of Israel. You are not being sent to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.(A) But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me.(B) For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted. Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.(C) 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, even 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.”(D)

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And he said to me, “Son of man,[a] come! Go to the house of Israel, and you must speak to them with my words. For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people of obscure speech[b] and of a difficult language,[c] and not to many nations of obscure speech[d] and a difficult language[e] whose words[f] you do not understand, for if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you. 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. But look, I have made[g] your face hard against[h] their faces and your forehead hard against[i] their forehead. Like a diamond harder than flint[j] I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed on account of them,[k] for they are a rebellious house.[l] 10 And he said to me, “Son of man,[m] all of my words that I shall speak to you, receive into[n] your heart and hear with your ears. 11 And come, go to the exiles,[o] to the children[p] 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:4 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  2. Ezekiel 3:5 Literally “obscure of lip”
  3. Ezekiel 3:5 Literally “heavy/thick of tongue”
  4. Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “obscure of tongue”
  5. Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “heavy/thick of tongue”
  6. Ezekiel 3:6 Literally “their words”
  7. Ezekiel 3:8 Or “set”
  8. Ezekiel 3:8 Literally “to correspond to
  9. Ezekiel 3:8 Literally “to correspond to
  10. Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “hard more than flint”
  11. Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “from the face of them”
  12. Ezekiel 3:9 Literally “are a house of rebellion”
  13. Ezekiel 3:10 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  14. Ezekiel 3:10 Hebrew “in”
  15. Ezekiel 3:11 Hebrew “exile”
  16. Ezekiel 3:11 Or “sons”