﻿Ezekiel.
Chapter 3.
He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 
So I opened my mouth, and he fed me this scroll. 
He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your inward parts with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. 
He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 
For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 
not to many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you. 
But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me. The whole house of Israel has a stubborn forehead and a hard heart. 
Look, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 
I have made your forehead like hard stone, harder than flint. Do not fear them or be dismayed at their faces, for they are a rebellious house.” 
He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all my words that I speak to you, and hear them with your ears. 
Go to the exiles, to your own people. Speak to them and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they listen or refuse.” 
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great rumbling sound: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place!” 
I heard the sound of the living creatures’ wings touching one another, the sound of the wheels beside them, and a great rumbling sound. 
The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness, with my spirit burning, and the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 
I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who lived by the Chebar River, and I sat where they lived. I remained there among them for seven days, stunned. 
At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: 
“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Hear the word from my mouth and warn them from me. 
When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn him to turn from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will hold you responsible for his blood. 
But 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 your life. 
Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I place a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous deeds he did will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for his blood. 
But if you warn a righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live because he accepted the warning, and you will have saved your life.” 
The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, “Rise, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 
So I rose and went out to the valley. There stood the glory of the LORD, like the glory I had seen by the Chebar River, and I fell on my face. 
The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 
As for you, son of man, look, they will put cords around you and bind you with them, and you will not go out among them. 
I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth. You will be mute and will not rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. 
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ Let the one who hears hear, and let the one who refuses refuse, for they are a rebellious house.” 
