Ezekiel 3:22-27
New English Translation
Isolated and Silenced
22 The hand[a] of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley,[b] 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,[c] and I threw myself face down.
24 Then a wind[d] came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord[e] 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[f] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue[g] and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse,[h] for they are a rebellious house.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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).
- Ezekiel 3:22 sn Ezekiel had another vision at this location, recounted in Ezek 37.
- Ezekiel 3:23 tn Or “canal.”
- Ezekiel 3:24 tn See the note on “wind” in 2:2.
- Ezekiel 3:24 tn Heb “he.”
- 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.
- Ezekiel 3:27 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
- 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.”
Ezekiel 3:22-27
Expanded Bible
22 Then I felt the ·power [L hand] of the Lord there. He said to me, “Get up and go out to the ·plain [or valley]. There I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the ·plain [or valley]. ·I saw [T And behold] the glory of the Lord [C his manifest presence] standing there, like the glory I saw by the Kebar ·River [Canal; 1:1], and I ·bowed [fell] facedown on the ground.
24 Then the Spirit entered me and ·made me stand [set me] on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25 As for you, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], the people will tie you up with ·ropes [cords] 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 [C Ezekiel would be mute for seven and a half years (see dates in 1:1–3 and 33:21–22), except when the Lord opened his mouth with prophetic revelations; v. 27]. You will not be able to ·argue with [rebuke; reprove] the people, ·even though they turn against me [L for they are a rebellious house]. 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 [rebellious house].
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