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¹ MOREOVER he said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.² So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that scroll.³ And he said to me, Son of man, fill your belly with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it and it was in my mouth sweet as honey.⁴ And he said to me, Son of man, go to them of the captivity, to the children of Israel, and speak my words to them.⁵ For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;⁶ Nor to many peoples whose speech you do not understand. Surely, if I send you to them, they would listen to you.⁷ But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not hearken to me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and stubborn of heart.⁸ Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.⁹ As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.¹⁰ Moreover 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 And go and get you to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, Thus says the LORD God; perhaps they will listen, and tremble.¹² Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.¹³ I heard also the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them and a noise of a great rushing.¹⁴ So the spirit lifted me up, and carried me away, and I went in the strength of my spirit; and the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.¹⁵ Then I came to the exiles at Tel-akib, who dwelt by the river Chebar, and I stayed there astonished among them seven days.

¹⁶ And it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came upon me, saying.¹⁷ Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the words of my mouth and give them warning from me.¹⁸ When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die; but you have not warned him, nor have you spoken to warn the sinner from his wicked way, to save his life; the same sinner shall die in his iniquity; and his blood will I require at your hand.¹⁹ But if you warn the sinner, and he turn not from his sin nor from his evil way, he shall die in his sins; but you have delivered your soul.²⁰ Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, I will lay a stumbling block before him, and he shall die; because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sins and his righteousness which he had done shall not be remembered; and his blood will I require at your hand.²¹ Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man, that he may not sin, and he does not sin, the righteous man shall surely live, because he is warned; and you have delivered your soul.

²² And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will talk to you there.²³ 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 spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet, and spoke with me and said to me, Go, shut yourself in your house.²⁵ And you, O Son of man, behold, they shall put chains upon you, and shall bind you with them, that you cannot go out among them.²⁶ And I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be dumb and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, Thus says the LORD God: He that hears, let him hear; and he that trembles, let him tremble; for they are a rebellious house.