1 H e said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.

2 S o I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll.

3 H e said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 H e said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

5 F or you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;

6 n ot to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.

7 B ut the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.

8 B ehold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.

9 A s an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

10 M oreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

11 G o to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

12 T hen the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be Yahweh’s glory from his place.

13 I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.

14 S o the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and Yahweh’s hand was strong on me.

15 T hen I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

16 A t the end of seven days, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

17 S on of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.

18 W hen I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.

19 Y et if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

20 A gain, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.

21 N evertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.

22 Y ahweh’s hand was there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go out into the plain, and I will there talk with you.

23 T hen I arose, and went out into the plain: and behold, Yahweh’s glory stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

24 T hen the Spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut yourself inside your house.

25 B ut you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:

26 a nd I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.

27 B ut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.