Bible Time

¹MOREOVER, he said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel. ²So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that scroll. ³And 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. ⁴And he said to me, Son of man, go to them of the captivity, to the children of Israel, and speak my words to them. ⁵For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech nor of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; ⁶Nor to many peoples whose speech you do not understand. Surely, if I send you to them, they would listen to you. ⁷But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and stubborn of heart. ⁸Look, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. ⁹As an adamant harder than flint I have made your forehead; do not fear them, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ¹⁰Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I will speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears. ¹¹And go to those of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, Thus says Yahvah God; perhaps they will listen, and tremble. ¹²Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Yahvah from his place. ¹³I also heard 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. ¹⁴So the spirit lifted me up, and carried me away, and I went in the strength of my spirit; and the hand of Yahvah was on me strong. ¹⁵Then I came to the exiles at Telakib, who lived by the river Chebar, and I stayed there astonished among them 7 days.

¹⁶And it came to pass at the end of 7 days that the word of Yahvah came on me, saying, ¹⁷Son 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. ¹⁸When I say to the sinner, You will 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 will die in his iniquity; and his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹But if you warn the sinner, and he does not turn from his sin nor from his evil way, he will die in his sins; but you have delivered your soul. ²⁰Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, I will lay a stumbling block before him, and he will die; because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sins and his righteousness which he had done will not be remembered; and his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man, that he may not sin, and he does not sin, the righteous man will surely live, because he is warned; and you have delivered your soul.

²²And the hand of Yahvah was on me there; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will talk to you there. ²³Then I arose and went forth into the plain, and look, the glory of Yahvah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. ²⁴Then the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me, Go, shut yourself in your house. ²⁵And you, oh Son of man, look, they will put chains on you, and will bind you with them, that you cannot go out among them. ²⁶And I will make your tongue cling to your palate, and you will be mute and will not be a rebuker to them; for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, Thus says Yahvah God, He that hears, let him hear; and he that trembles, let him tremble; for they are a rebellious house.