1He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the people of Israel.”
2So I opened my mouth, and he made me eat the scroll.
3He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I’m giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.
5I am not sending you to people who speak a strange and difficult language, but to the people of Israel.
6I am not sending you to many different peoples who speak strange and difficult languages that you wouldn't understand. If I sent you to them, they would surely listen to you.
7But the people of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to me. All the people of Israel are stubborn and hard-hearted.
8Look, I have made you as determined as they are, and as unyielding as they are.
9I have made your forehead as hard as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, and don’t be scared by their angry looks, even though they are a rebellious group.”
10He also said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I will speak to you and receive them in your heart; listen with your ears.
11Go to your people, the captives, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.
12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rushing sound behind me, saying, “Blessed be Yahweh’s glory from his place.”
13I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched each other, and the sound of the wheels beside them, a sound like a great rushing.
14So the Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went with a bitter attitude, my spirit burning, and Yahweh’s power was strongly upon me.
15I came to the captives at Tel Aviv, who lived by the Chebar River, to where they were living. I sat there among them, overwhelmed, for seven days.
16After seven days, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel. So listen to the word from my mouth and give them a warning from me.
18When I tell a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak to him to turn him from his wicked way and save his life, that wicked person will die because of his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his death.
19But if you warn a wicked person, and they don’t turn from their wickedness or their wicked way, they will die in their sin; however, you will have saved yourself.
20“Also, when a righteous person turns away from their righteousness and does wrong, if I put something in their path that causes them to stumble, they will die. And because you did not warn them, they will die in their sin, and their righteous deeds will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for their death.
21However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and they do not sin, they will certainly live because they took the warning; and you will have saved yourself.”
22The power of Yahweh came upon me, and he told me, “Get up and go out into the plain, and I will speak with you there.”
23So I got up and went out into the plain. And there, the glory of Yahweh was standing, just like the glory I saw by the Chebar River, and I fell facedown on the ground.
24Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
25But you, son of man, watch out! They will tie you up with ropes so you cannot go out among them.
26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so you will be silent and unable to correct them, because they are a rebellious people.
27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ Let whoever listens, listen; and let whoever refuses, refuse, for they are a rebellious people.”