Ezekiel 3
He Ate the Scroll and It Was Sweet as Honey
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Eat This Scroll
3:1He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll, then go and speak to the sons of Israel.”
3:2I opened my mouth wide, and He fed me the scroll.
3:3He said to me, “Son of man, your mouth will eat, and your belly will be filled with this scroll that has been given to you.” I ate it, and in my mouth it became like sweetening honey.
Go to the House of Israel
3:4He said to me, “Son of man, go, enter the house of Israel, and speak My words to them;
3:5for you are not sent out to a people of deep speech and heavy tongue, but to the house of Israel,
3:6nor to many peoples of foreign speech or foreign tongues, nor those strong in tongue whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to such people, they would have listened to you.
3:7But the house of Israel certainly will not be willing to listen to you, because they do not wish to listen to Me; the entire house of Israel is contentious and hard-hearted.
3:8Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your contention against their contention,
3:9and it will always be stronger than rock. Do not fear them or be terrified before their faces, for it is an embittering house.”
3:10He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all the words that I have spoken with you, and hear with your ears,
3:11and go, enter the captivity, to the sons of your people; speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ if indeed they listen, if indeed they yield.”
The Spirit Takes Him to the Captivity
3:12A spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great shaking: “Blessed be the Lord’s glory from His place!”
3:13I saw the sound of the living creatures’ wings fluttering one toward another, and the sound of the wheels adjoining them, and the sound of the shaking.
3:14The spirit raised me and took me up. I went in the impulse of my spirit, and the Lord’s hand came strongly upon me.
3:15I entered the captivity aloft and went around those dwelling by the River Chebar, those who were there; I sat there seven days, living among them.
A Watchman for the House of Israel
3:16After the seven days, the Lord’s word came to me, saying,
3:17“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Hear a word from My mouth and convey My warning to them.
3:18When I say to the lawless person, ‘You shall surely be put to death,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn the lawless person to turn from his ways so that he may live, that lawless person will die in his injustice; but I will require his blood from your hand.
3:19But if you warn the lawless person and he does not turn from his lawlessness and his way, that lawless person will die in his injustice, while you will rescue your life.
3:20When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and commits a transgression, and I place torment before his face, he will die because you did not warn him. He will die in his sins, because the righteous deeds he did certainly will not be remembered, and I will require his blood from your hand.
3:21But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, the righteous person will surely live because you warned him; and you will rescue your own life.”
Bound and Made Mute
3:22The Lord’s hand came upon me, and He said to me, “Rise and go out to the plain, and there speech will be addressed to you.”
3:23I rose and went out to the plain, and behold, the Lord’s glory stood there, like the vision and like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar; and I fall upon my face.
3:24A spirit came upon me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said to me, “Go, be shut inside your house.
3:25And you, son of man, behold, bonds have been placed upon you, and they will bind you with them; you certainly will not go out from among them.
3:26I will bind your tongue, and you will become mute; you will not be a man rebuking them, for it is an embittering house.
3:27But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let the one who hears hear, and let the one who disobeys disobey,’ for it is an embittering house.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.