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¹ And he said to me, ^(a)"Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^(b)Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." ^(c)Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^(d)as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, ^(e)"Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^(f)Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ^7 (g)But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^(h)have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ^8 (i)Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^(j)emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^(k)Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house." ¹⁰ Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, ^(l)all my words that I shall speak to you receive ^(m)in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go to the exiles, ⁽ⁿ⁾to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(o)‘Thus says the Lord God,' ^(p)whether they hear or refuse to hear."

^12 (q)Then the Spirit^[a] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice^[b] of ^(r)a great earthquake: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!" ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of ^(s)the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^(t)a great earthquake. ^14 (u)The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ^(v)hand of the Lord being strong upon me. ^15 (w)And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^(x)by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.^[c] And ^(y)I sat there ^(z)overwhelmed among them ^(aa)seven days.

A Watchman for Israel

^16 (ab)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (ac)"Son of man, ^(ad)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(ae)give them warning from me. ^18 (af)If I say to the wicked, ^(ag)‘You shall surely die,' ^(ah)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^(ai)shall die for^[d] his iniquity, ^(aj)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (ak)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^(al)but you ^(am)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (an)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(ao)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(ap)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(aq)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(ar)but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul."

^22 (as)And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, "Arise, go out into ^(at)the valley,^[e] and ^(au)there I will speak with you." ²³ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^(av)the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^(aw)by the Chebar canal, ^(ax)and I fell on my face. ^24 (ay)But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, behold, ^(az)cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that ^(ba)you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^(bb)for they are a rebellious house. ^27 (bc)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(bd)‘Thus says the Lord God.' ^(be)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.