Ezekiel 2–3

Ezekiel’s Call

2And he said to me, ^c“Son of man,^{1 d}stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ²And as he spoke to me, ^ethe Spirit entered into me and ^fset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. ³And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to ^gnations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. ^hThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴The descendants also are ⁱimpudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ⁵And ^jwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ^ga rebellious house) ^kthey will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶And you, son of man, ^lbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, ^mthough briers and thorns are with you and you sit on ⁿscorpions.² Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷And you shall speak my words to them, ^jwhether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

⁸“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^oBe not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^peat what I give you.” ⁹And when I looked, behold, ^qa hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^ra scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^son the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3And he said to me, ^c“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^tEat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^uThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^vas sweet as honey.

⁴And he said to me, ^w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶not 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. ^7yBut 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. ^8aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹Like ^bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^dall my words that I shall speak to you receive ^ein your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹And go to the exiles, ^fto your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^g‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^hwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”

¹²ⁱThen the Spirit¹ lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice² of ^ja great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” ¹³It was the sound of the wings of ^kthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^la great earthquake. ^14mThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ⁿhand of the Lord being strong upon me. ^15oAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^oby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.³ And ^pI sat there ^qoverwhelmed among them ^rseven days.

A Watchman for Israel

^16sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17t“Son of man, ^uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^vgive them warning from me. ^18wIf I say to the wicked, ^x‘You shall surely die,’ ^vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^yshall die for⁴ his iniquity, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. ^19aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^bbut you ^cwill have delivered your soul. ^20dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

^22fAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^gthe valley,⁵ and ^hthere I will speak with you.” ²³So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ⁱthe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^jby the Chebar canal, ⁱand I fell on my face. ^24kBut 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. ²⁵And you, O son of man, behold, ^lcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that ^myou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ⁿfor they are a rebellious house. ^27oBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^p‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^qHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.