Ezekiel’s Commission

1Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your [a]body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4Then He said to me, “Son of man, [b]go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5For you are not being sent to a people of [c]unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6nor to many peoples of [d]unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. [e]But I have sent you to [f]the people who understand you; 7yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. The entire house of Israel certainly is [g]stubborn and obstinate. 8Behold, I have made your face just as hard as their faces, and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. 9Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, since they are a rebellious house.” 10Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen [h]closely. 11[i]Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or [j]not, ‘This is what the Lord [k]GOD says.’”

12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place!” 13And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there for seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

16Now at the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his blood I will require from your hand. 19However if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have saved yourself. 20Again, when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand. 21However, if you have warned [l]the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.”

22Now the hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory that I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24But the Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25And as for you, son of man, they will put ropes [m]around you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them. 26Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak and will not be a man who reprimands them, since they are a rebellious house. 27But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord [n]GOD says:’ The one who hears, let him hear; and the one who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.