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Ezekiel 3:4–9

And he said to me, w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. xSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. yBut the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel zhave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

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Ezekiel 3:4–9 — The New International Version (NIV)

He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel—not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages. I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand. No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. If I did, they would listen! But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn. But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are. I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — New Century Version (NCV)

Then he said to me, “Human, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to people whose speech you can’t understand, whose language is difficult. You are being sent to Israel. You are not being sent to many nations whose speech you can’t understand, whose language is difficult, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the people of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me. Yes, all the people of Israel are stubborn and will not obey. See, I now make you as stubborn and as hard as they are. I am making you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don’t be afraid of them or be frightened by them, though they are a people who turn against me.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart. Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of strange language, and of difficult speech, but to the house of Israel; not to many peoples of strange language and of difficult speech, whose words thou canst not understand: had I sent thee to them, would they not hearken unto thee? But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for none of them will hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are hard of forehead and stiff of heart. Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at them, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them. I am not sending you to people whose language is hard to understand or difficult to speak. I am sending you to Israel. I am not sending you to nations whose language is hard to understand, difficult to speak, or whose words you cannot understand. If I send you to those nations, they will certainly listen to you. But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to me. All the people of Israel are very stubborn and hardheaded. Yet, I will make you as stubborn and as hardheaded as they are. I will make you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be terrified in their presence, even though they are rebellious people.” 

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Then 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 unintelligible speech or difficult language but to the house of Israel. You are not being sent to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted. Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, even though they are a rebellious house.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them. For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And he said to me, “Son of man, come! Go to the house of Israel, and you must speak to them with my words. For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people of obscure speech and of a difficult language, and not to many nations of obscure speech and a difficult language whose words you do not understand, for if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you. And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they are hard of heart. But look, I have made your face hard against their faces and your forehead hard against their forehead. Like a diamond harder than flint I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed on account of them, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Then he said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel. Give them my message.

“I am not sending you to people who speak another language that is hard to learn. Instead, I am sending you to the people of Israel. You are not being sent to many nations whose people speak other languages that are hard to learn. You would not be able to understand them. Suppose I had sent you to them. Then they certainly would have listened to you. But the people of Israel do not want to listen to you. That is because they do not want to listen to me.

“All of the people of Israel are very stubborn. But I will make you just as stubborn as they are. I will make you very brave. So do not be afraid of them. Do not let them terrify you, even though they refuse to obey me.”

Ezekiel 3:4–9 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

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

“For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel,

nor 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;

yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.

Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

“Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”


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