Ezekiel 3

3The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.”H559H1121H120H398H4672H398H4039H3212H1696H1004H34782So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.H6605H6310H398H40393“Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.H559H1121H120H990H398H4390H4578H4039H5414H398H6310H1706H49664Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages.H559H1121H120H3212H935H1004H3478H1696H16975I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand.H7971H5971H6012H8193H3515H3956H1004H34786No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. If I did, they would listen!H7227H5971H6012H8193H3515H3956H1697H8085H7971H80857But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn.H1004H3478H14H8085H14H8085H1004H3478H2389H4696H7186H38208But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are.H5414H6440H2389H5980H6440H4696H2389H5980H46969I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.”H8068H2389H6864H5414H4696H3372H2865H6440H4805H100410Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself.H559H1121H120H1697H1696H3947H3824H8085H24111Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.”H3212H935H1473H1121H5971H1696H559H559H136H3069H8085H230812Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. (May the glory of the Lord be praised in his place!)

H7307H5375H8085H310H6963H1419H7494H1288H3519H3068H472513It was the sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them.H6963H3671H2416H5401H802H269H6963H212H5980H6963H1419H749414The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord’s hold on me was strong.H7307H5375H3947H3212H4751H2534H7307H3027H3068H238815Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel-abib, beside the Kebar River. I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days.H935H1473H8512H3427H5104H3529H3427H3427H3427H8074H8432H7651H3117

A Watchman for Israel

16After seven days the Lord gave me a message. He said,H7097H7651H3117H1697H3068H55917“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.H1121H120H5414H6822H1004H3478H8085H1697H6310H209418If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.H559H7563H4191H4191H2094H1696H2094H7563H7563H1870H2421H7563H4191H5771H1818H1245H302719If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.H2094H7563H7725H7562H7563H1870H4191H5771H5337H531520“If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.H7725H6662H7725H6664H6213H5766H5414H4383H6440H4191H2094H4191H2403H6666H6213H2142H1818H1245H302721But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”H2094H6662H6662H2398H2398H2421H2421H2094H5337H531522Then the Lord took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.”H3027H3068H559H6965H3318H1237H169623So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen in my first vision by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground.H6965H3318H1237H3519H3068H5975H3519H7200H5104H3529H5307H644024Then the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go to your house and shut yourself in.H7307H935H5975H7272H1696H559H935H5462H8432H100425There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people.H1121H120H5414H5688H631H3318H843226And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels.H3956H1692H2441H481H376H3198H4805H100427But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. Then you will say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels.H1696H854H6605H6310H559H559H136H3069H8085H8085H2310H2308H4805H1004