Ezekiel 3

Modern

Literal

Ezekiel Eats the Scroll

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

¹And He said to me, “Son of man, what you find, you must eat. Eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel!”

²So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

²And I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat this scroll.

³“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.”

So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

³And He said to me: “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your bowels with this scroll that I am giving to you!” And I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

⁴And He said to me, “Son of man, go, come into the house of Israel, and speak with My words to them.

⁵For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—

⁵For not to a people of unfathomable speech and heavy tongue are you being sent, but to the house of Israel—

⁶not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

⁶not to many peoples of unfathomable speech and heavy tongue, whose words you cannot understand. If I had not sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

⁷But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

⁷And the house of Israel are not willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to Me! For all the house of Israel, they are strong of forehead and hard of heart.

⁸Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

⁸Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.

⁹I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

⁹I have made your forehead like a diamond stronger than flint. Do not be afraid of them, and do not be dismayed at their faces, for they are a house of rebellion.”

¹⁰“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.

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.

¹¹Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

¹¹And go, come to the captivity, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH!’—Whether they hear or whether they refuse.”

¹²Then the Spirit^a lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!”^b

¹²And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great quaking: ‘Blessed is the glory of YHWH from His place!’

¹³It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

¹³And the voice of the wings of the living creatures, touching each one to her sister, and the voice of the wheels beside them, and the a voice of a great quaking.

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

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 YHWH upon me was strong.

¹⁵I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.

¹⁵And I came to the captivity at Tel-abib, those dwelling by the River Kebar, and I sat there where they were sitting, and I sat there seven days being desolate in their midst.

A Watchman for Israel

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁶And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of YHWH came to me, saying:

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; and hear a word from My mouth, and give them a warning from Me.

¹⁸If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity,^a and I will hold you responsible for his blood.

¹⁸In My saying to the wicked, ‘You will surely die!’ And you do not warn him, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked one will die in his iniquity, and his blood I will require from your hand.

¹⁹But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

¹⁹And you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn back from his wickedness and from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity and you will have delivered your own soul.

²⁰Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin,^a and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

²⁰And in the turning away of a righteous one from his righteousness so that he does iniquity, and I set a stumbling block before him, he will die because you did not give him warning—in his sin he will die—and his righteousness that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I will require from your hand.

²¹But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

²¹And you, if you warn the righteous not to sin—the righteous one—and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he was warned and you will have delivered your own soul.”

²²And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

²²And the hand of YHWH was upon me there, and He said to me: “Rise, go out into the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

²³So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

²³And I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, there the glory of YHWH was standing, like the glory that I saw by the River Kebar. And I fell upon my face.

²⁴Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

²⁴And the Spirit came into me and set me upon my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself up in the midst of your house.

²⁵And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.

²⁵And you, son of man, behold, they will place around you ropes, and they will bind you with them so that you cannot go out in their midst.

²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁶And your tongue I will make cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute, and you will be for them as a man unable to rebuke, for they are a house of rebellion.

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²⁷And in My speaking with you, I will open your mouth, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH!’—The one hearing, let him hear, and the one refusing, let him refuse. For they are a house of rebellion.