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

4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. 5 For ^ayou are not being sent to a people of ^bunintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you and pay attention to My message; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you and obey you, since they are ^anot willing to listen to Me and obey Me, for the entire house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead like emery (diamond) , harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” Is 50:7; Jer 1:18; 15:20; Mic 3:8 10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My ^awords which I will speak to you and hear with your ears (listen closely) . 11 Go to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, to the children of your people, and speak to them, whether they listen or not, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’”

12 Then the ^aSpirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ^brushing sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place above the expanse.” 13 And then I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings as they touched one another and I heard the sound of the ^awheels beside them, a great rushing sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went embittered by the sins of Israel 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. I sat there for ^aseven days in the place where they were living, overwhelmed with astonishment by my vision and the work before me.

16 At ^athe end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a ^awatchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ^bwarn them from Me. Is 52:8; 56:10; 62:6; Jer 6:17 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to tell him to turn from his wicked way to save his life, that same evil man will die in his sin, but you will be responsible for his ^ablood. 19 However, if you have ^awarned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he will die in his sin; but you have ^1bfreed yourself from responsibility. 20 Again, ^awhen a righteous man turns from his righteousness (right standing with God) and sins, and I place an ^bobstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but you will be responsible for his blood. 21 However, if you have ^awarned the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning; also you have ¹freed yourself from responsibility.”

22 The hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out to the plain, and I will ^aspeak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the ^aglory and brilliance of the LORD was standing there, like the glory ^bI had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell face downward. 24 Then the ^aSpirit entered me and made me stand on my feet; He spoke and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will ^aput ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 And ^aI will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot talk and you cannot be a man who rebukes the people, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But ^awhen I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses to hear, let him refuse; ^bfor they are a rebellious house.