1And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
2So I opened my mouth, and he made me eat this scroll.
3And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I am giving to you.” So I ate it, and it was in my mouth like honey for sweetness.
4And he said to me, “Son of man, go, come to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them.
5For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel—
6not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult tongue, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
7But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, because the whole house of Israel are hard of forehead and stubborn of heart.
8Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.
9Like diamond, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not fear them, and do not be dismayed before them, for they are a rebellious house.
10And he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I speak to you, take into your heart and hear with your ears.
11And go, come to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ whether they listen or whether they cease.
12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place!”
13And the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing one against another, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, and the sound of a great earthquake.
14And the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong upon me.
15And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the river Chebar, and I sat where they were dwelling, and I remained there seven days, stunned in their midst.
16And at the end of seven days the word of Yahweh came to me, saying:
17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them from me.
18When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him and do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so as to save his life—that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.
19But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
20And when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I place a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you did not warn him, he shall die in his sin, and the righteous deeds that he did shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require from your hand.
21But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and the righteous man does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you have delivered your life.
22And the hand of Yahweh was upon me there, and he said to me, “Arise, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.”
23So I arose and went out to the valley, and behold, there the glory of Yahweh was standing, like the glory that I had seen by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.
24Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
25And you, son of man, behold, they will put cords upon you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them.
26And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be mute and will not be a man who reproves them, for they are a rebellious house.
27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh.’ Let the one who listens, listen; and the one who refuses, let him refuse—for they are a rebellious house.”
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