Ezekiel 3

1 He said to me, “You human, eat this scroll that is in front of you. Then go and speak to the Israeli people [MTY].”

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.'

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat it.

So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll.

3 Then he said to me, “You human, eat the scroll that I have given to you. Fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and in my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey.

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee.' Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

4 Then he said to me, “You human, go to the Israeli people [MTY] and tell them my message.

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.

5 The people to whom I am sending you are not people whose language is very [to learn], a language which you do not understand. I am sending you to your Israeli people [MTY].

For thou art not sent to a people of an unintelligible speech and of a slow tongue, but to the house of Israel;

6 I am sending you to people whose language you understand very well. If I were sending you to people whose language was difficult for you to understand, they [be surprised and] pay attention to what [say to them].

not to many peoples of an unintelligible speech and of a slow tongue, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee.

7 But the Israeli people do not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me. [They do not want to listen because] they are all very stubborn [DOU].

But the house of Israel will not consent to hearken unto thee; for they consent not to hearken unto Me; for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.

8 But I will enable you [SYN] to be as stubborn and tough as they are.

Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.

9 I will cause you to be as firm/unbreakable as [SIM] the hardest stone, like flint. So, [even though] they are very rebellious people, do not be afraid of them; do not allow them to cause you to be afraid.”

As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.'

10 He also said to me, “You human, listen very carefully to what I say, and keep thinking about it [IDM].

Moreover He said unto me: 'Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears.

11 Go to your fellow Israelis who [here after being] (exiled/forced to leave their country), and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ [and then tell them my message], whether they want to hear it or whether they do not want to hear it.”

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them: Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.'

12 [in the vision] the [of God] lifted me up, and I heard behind [someone speaking very loudly], like a loud rumbling sound. [I heard someone say, ] “Praise our glorious Yahweh in the place where he [in heaven]!”

Then a spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing: 'Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place';

13 [I heard] the sound of the wings of the four living creatures brushing against each other, [I also heard] the sound of the wheels that were beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound.

also 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 The Spirit took me away. Within me I was very bitter and angry [DOU], but I felt Yahweh holding me very powerfully.

So a spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel [town] near the Kebar River/ [south of Babylon]. Then, where they were living, I sat for seven days. I was [about everything that I had seen].

Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar, and I sat where they sat; and I remained there appalled among them seven days.

16 After those seven days had ended, Yahweh gave me this message:

And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

17 “You human, I am appointing [to be like] a watchman [MET] for the Israeli people [MTY]. [So] listen to these messages that I will give you, and tell them those messages to warn them.

'Son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; and when thou shalt hear a word at My mouth, thou shalt give them warning from Me.

18 When I say about some wicked people, ‘They will surely [because of their sins],’ if you do not warn them or tell them that they must turn from their wicked behavior if they want to (save their lives/remain alive), those wicked people will die because of the sins that they have committed, but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY].

When I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest 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 thy hand.

19 But if you warn the wicked people and they do not turn from all their wicked behavior [DOU], they will die because of their sins, but you will have saved [from my punishing you].

Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 Similarly, when righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and do evil deeds, I will cause bad things to happen [IDM] to them. [But you must warn them. If you do not warn them], and if they do not stop their sinful behavior, they will die because of their sins; I will not think about the righteous things that they [previously], but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY].

Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

21 But if you warn righteous people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely remain alive because they [your] warning, and you will have saved [from my punishing you].”

Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.'

22 [I felt] Yahweh take control [MTY] of me, and he said to me, “Get up and go [from the city down] to the plain/valley, and there I will speak to you.”

And the hand of the LORD came there upon me; and He said unto me: 'Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there speak with thee.'

23 So I got up and went down to the valley. And I saw the glory of Yahweh there, like the glory that I had seen along the Kebar River/Canal. And I prostrated myself on the ground.

Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

24 Then the [of God] entered me and enabled me to stand up. He said to me, “Go into your house and stay inside it.

Then spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and He spoke with me, and said unto me: 'Go, shut thyself within thy house.

25 People will tie you with ropes, with the result that you will be unable to go out among the people.

But thou, son of man, behold, bands shall be put upon thee, and thou shalt be bound with them, and thou shalt not go out among them;

26 [Even though] they are very rebellious people, I will cause your tongue to stick to the roof of your mouth, with the result that you will be unable to talk and to rebuke them.

and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.

27 [then] when I speak to [again], I will enable you to talk [MTY], and you will say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ [and you will tell them my message]. Those who are willing to [to what you say] will listen, [many] will refuse to listen, because they are rebellious people [MTY].”

But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD; he that heareth, let him hear, and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house.