Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Ezekiel 3
Eat and speak
He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.” I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. He said, “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” I ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey. Then he said, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. You are being sent to the house of Israel, not to a people whose speech is unfamiliar and whose language is hard to understand. Nor are you being sent to many peoples with unfamiliar speech and difficult languages whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the house of Israel will refuse to listen to you, because they refuse to listen to me. The whole house of Israel is hardheaded and stubborn-hearted. Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as theirs. I have made your forehead like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them or be dismayed by their faces, for they are a rebellious household.” He said, “Son of man, take to heart every word I speak to you, and listen with your ears. Go to the exiles, to your own people. Speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse.”
Among the exiles
Then a spirit lifted me, and behind me I heard a great rumbling sound: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place!” I heard the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, the wheels beside them, and a great rumbling sound. The spirit lifted me and carried me away. I went in bitterness, my spirit burning, while the hand of the LORD rested heavily on me. I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived beside the Kebar River, and sat where they sat. For seven days I sat among them, stunned.
The watchman
At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me. When I tell a wicked person, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you give no warning, saying nothing to warn that person away from a wicked path so they may live, that wicked person will die in their guilt. But I will hold you accountable for their blood. If you warn a wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness and their wicked path, they will die in their guilt, but you will have saved your own life. Again, if a righteous person turns from doing right and does wrong, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Because you did not warn them, they will die in their sin, and their righteous deeds will not be remembered. I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you warn a righteous person not to sin, and they do not sin, they will certainly live because they took warning, and you will have saved your own life.”
Silence and speech
There the hand of the LORD came upon me. He said, “Get up and go out to the valley. I will speak with you there.” I got up and went to the valley. There stood the glory of the LORD, like the glory I had seen beside the Kebar River. I fell facedown. A spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me: “Go and shut yourself inside your house. As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you, so that you cannot go out among them. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. You will be silent, unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious household. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Let whoever listens listen, and whoever refuses refuse, for they are a rebellious household.”