Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^aeat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I ^aopened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and ^afill your ¹body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ^bate it, and it was as sweet as ^choney in my mouth.

4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, ¹go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 For ^ayou are not being sent to a people of ^1bunintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 nor to many peoples of ¹unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. ²But I have sent you to ³the people who understand you; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are ^anot willing to listen to Me. The entire house of Israel certainly is ¹stubborn and obstinate. 8 Behold, I have made your face just as hard as their faces, and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, since they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My ^awords which I will speak to you and listen ¹closely. 11 ¹Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or ²not, ‘This is what the Lord ³GOD says.’”

12 Then the ^aSpirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ^brumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place!” 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the ^awheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and ^athe hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there for ^aseven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

16 Now ^aat the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a ^awatchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ^bwarn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his ^ablood I will require from your hand. 19 However if you have ^awarned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have ^bsaved yourself. 20 Again, ^awhen a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an ^bobstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand. 21 However, if you have ^awarned ¹the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.”

22 Now the hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will ^aspeak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the ^aglory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory that ^bI saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 But the ^aSpirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And as for you, son of man, they will ^aput ropes ¹around you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them. 26 Moreover, ^aI will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak and will not be a man who reprimands them, since they are a rebellious house. 27 But ^awhen I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ¹GOD says:’ The one who hears, let him hear; and the one who refuses, let him refuse; ^bfor they are a rebellious house.