Ezekiel 3–4

3Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; ^aeat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. ²So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. ³And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. ^abThen did I eat it; and it was in my mouth ^cas honey for sweetness.

⁴And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. ⁵For thou art not sent to a people ^†of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; ⁶Not to many people ^†of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. ^||Surely, ^fhad I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. ⁷But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; ^gfor they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel ^hare ^†impudent and hardhearted. ⁸Behold, ^kI have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against ⁱtheir foreheads. ⁹As ^lan adamant ^mharder than flint have ^kI made thy forehead: ⁿfear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, ^othough they be a rebellious house. ¹⁰Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, ^pall my words that I shall speak unto thee ^breceive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. ¹¹And go, get thee to ^qthem of the captivity, unto ^rthe children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; ^swhether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. ¹²Then ^tthe spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great ^urushing, ^vsaying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord ^wfrom his place. ¹³I heard also the noise of the wings of ^xthe living creatures that ^†touched one another, and the noise of ^xthe wheels over against them, and a noise of a great ^urushing. ¹⁴So ^tthe spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went ^†in bitterness, in the ^†heat of my spirit; but ^ythe hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

¹⁵Then I came to ^qthem of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt ^zby the river of Chebar, and ^aI sat where they sat, and ^aremained there astonished among them ^bseven days. ^16cAnd it came to pass at the end of ^bseven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ^17dSon of man, ^eI have made thee a ^dfwatchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and ^ggive them warning from me. ^18hWhen I say unto the wicked, ⁱThou shalt surely die; and thou ^ggivest him not warning, nor speakest ^gto warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; ^hthe same wicked man ^jshall die in his iniquity; but ^khis blood will I require at thine hand. ^19lYet if thou ^gwarn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, ^jhe shall die in his iniquity; ^lmbut thou ⁿhast delivered thy soul. ²⁰Again, ^oWhen a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and ^pI lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not ^ggiven him warning, he shall die in his sin, and ^ohis ^†righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but ^khis blood will I require at thine hand. ²¹Nevertheless if thou ^gwarn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is ^gwarned; also thou ⁿhast delivered thy soul.

^22qAnd the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth ^rinto the plain, and ^sI will there talk with thee. ²³Then I arose, and went forth ^rinto the plain: and, behold, ^ssthe glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw ^tby the river of Chebar: and ^ssI fell on my face. ^24uThen the spirit entered into me, and ^uset me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. ²⁵But thou, O son of man, behold, ^vthey shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: ²⁶And ^wI will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that ^xthou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them ^†a reprover: ^yfor they are a rebellious house. ²⁷But when I speak with thee, ^zI will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, ^aThus saith the Lord God; ^aHe that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: ^yfor they are a rebellious house.

4Thou also, son of man, ^atake thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and ^bpourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: ²And ^clay siege against it, and ^debuild a fort against it, and ^dfcast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and ^gset ^||battering rams against it round about. ³Moreover take thou unto thee ^||an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and ⁱset thy face against it, and ^cit shall be besieged, and ^jthou shalt lay siege against it. ^kThis shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

⁴Lie thou also ^lupon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt ^mbear their iniquity. ⁵For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, ^*naccording to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: ⁿso shalt thou ^mbear the iniquity of the house of Israel. ⁶And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again ^lon thy right side, and thou shalt ^mbear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: ⁿI have appointed thee ^†each day for a year. ⁷Therefore ⁱthou shalt set thy face toward ^cthe siege of Jerusalem, and ^othine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. ⁸And, behold, ^pI will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee ^†from one side to another, till thou hast ended ^qthe days of thy ^csiege.

⁹Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and ^rbeans, and ^rslentiles, and millet, and ^||tfitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, ^uaccording to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, ^qthree hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. ¹⁰And ^tvthy meat which thou shalt eat shall be ^vby weight, twenty ^wshekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. ^11xThou shalt drink also water ^xyby measure, the sixth part of ^yyan hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. ¹²And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, ^zin their sight. ¹³And the Lord said, Even thus ^zzshall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. ¹⁴Then said I, ^aAh Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: ^bfor from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of ^cdthat which dieth of itself, or ^ceis torn in pieces; neither came there ^fabominable flesh into my mouth. ¹⁵Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung ^gfor man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. ¹⁶Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, ^hI will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and ^vthey shall eat bread by weight, and ⁱwith care; and ^xthey shall drink water by measure, and ⁱwith astonishment: ¹⁷That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and ^kconsume away for their iniquity.