Ezekiel 3–4

3And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate^k it, and it tasted as sweet as honey^l in my mouth.

⁴He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.^{m 5}You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,ⁿ but to the people of Israel—⁶not 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.^{o 7}But the people of Israel are not willing to listen^p to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.^{q 8}But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.^{r 9}I will make your forehead^s like the hardest stone, harder than flint.^t Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^u”

¹⁰And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart^v all the words I speak to you. ¹¹Go^w now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’^x whether they listen or fail to listen.^y”

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up,^z and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.^{a 13}It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures^a brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.^{b 14}The Spirit^c then lifted me up^d and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^e on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.^f And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days^g—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{h 17}“Son of man, I have made you a watchmanⁱ for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.^{j 18}When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,^k’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for^b their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{l 19}But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn^m from their wickednessⁿ or from their evil ways, they will die^o for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.^p

²⁰“Again, when a righteous person turns^q from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block^r before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{s 21}But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.^t”

²²The hand of the Lord^u was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go^v out to the plain,^w and there I will speak to you.” ²³So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,^x and I fell facedown.^y

²⁴Then the Spirit came into me and raised me^z to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.^{a 25}And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.^{b 26}I will make your tongue stick to the roof^c of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.^{d 27}But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^e Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.^f

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ²Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp^g up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.^{h 3}Then take an iron pan,ⁱ place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward^j it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign^k to the people of Israel.^l

⁴“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.^a You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. ⁵I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

⁶“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin^m of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.^{n 7}Turn your face^o toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. ⁸I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.^p

⁹“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;^q put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰Weigh out twenty shekels^br of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. ¹¹Also measure out a sixth of a hin^c of water and drink it at set times.^{s 12}Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement^t for fuel.” ¹³The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”^u

¹⁴Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!^v I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead^w or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.^x”

¹⁵“Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

¹⁶He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off^y the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,^{z 17}for food and water will be scarce.^a They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of^d their sin.^b