[1] He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll,
and go, speak to the house of Israel. [2] So I opened my mouth, and he
caused me to eat the scroll. [3] He said to me, Son of man, cause your
belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then
did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. [4] He said to
me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words
to them. [5] For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a
hard language, but to the house of Israel; [6] not to many peoples of a
strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand.
Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. [7] But the house
of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all
the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart. [8] Behold,
I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard
against their foreheads. [9] As an adamant harder than flint have I made
your forehead: don`t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks,
though they are a rebellious house. [10] Moreover he said to me, Son of
man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear
with your ears. [11] Go, get you to them of the captivity, to the children
of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord
Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. [12] Then the
Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing,
[saying], Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place. [13] [I heard] the
noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and
the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
[14] So 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 on
me. [15] Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that lived by
the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed
among them seven days. [16] It happened at the end of seven days, that the
word of Yahweh came to me, saying, [17] Son of man, I have made you a
watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and
give them warning from me. [18] When I tell the wicked, You shall surely
die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his
wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. [19] Yet if you warn
the wicked, and he doesn`t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. [20]
Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you
have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous
deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I
require at your hand. [21] Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that
the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because
he took warning; and you have delivered your soul. [22] The hand of Yahweh
was there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I
will there talk with you. [23] Then I arose, and went forth into the plain:
and, behold, the glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by
the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. [24] Then the Spirit entered into
me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut
yourself within your house. [25] But you, son of man, behold, they shall
lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out
among them: [26] and I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your
mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for
they are a rebellious house. [27] But when I speak with you, I will open
your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who
hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a
rebellious house.
