Ezekiel 3 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel."

So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your gut with this scroll I am giving you." So I ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them."

For you are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel —

not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you!

But the house of Israel will refuse to listen to you, because they refuse to listen to me. The whole house of Israel is hard-headed and stone-hearted.

Look — I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

Like diamond, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not fear them. Do not be shattered by the looks on their faces, for they are a rebellious house.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, take into your heart all the words that I speak to you, and hear them with your ears."

Go now to the exiles, to your own people, and speak to them. Tell them, 'This is what the Lord Yahweh says' — whether they listen or refuse to listen.

Then the Breath of God lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing: "The radiance of Yahweh be praised from his dwelling place!"

I heard the sound of the living creatures' wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels beside them — the sound of a great rushing.

The Breath lifted me and carried me away. I went in bitterness, in the burning heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was heavy upon me.

I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were settled by the Chebar canal. And I sat where they sat. For seven days I stayed there among them, devastated.

At the end of seven days, the word of Yahweh came to me:

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them from me."

"When I say to a wicked person, 'You will certainly die,' and you do not warn them — you do not speak up to warn the wicked person to turn from their wicked way in order to save their life — that wicked person will die for their own failure, but I will hold you accountable for their blood."

"But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their wicked way, they will die for their own failure — but you will have saved your own life."

"And when a just person turns from their justice and does what is wrong, and I place a stumbling block before them — they will die. Because you did not warn them, they will die in their failure, and the just things they did will not be remembered. But I will hold you accountable for their blood."

"But if you warn the just person not to fail, and they do not fail — they will certainly live, because they took warning, and you will have saved your own life."

The hand of Yahweh was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up. Go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you."

So I got up and went out to the valley, and there — the radiance of Yahweh was standing there, like the radiance I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face.

Then the Breath entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, "Go, shut yourself inside your house."

"And you, son of man — they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among the people."

"I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute — unable to rebuke them, even though they are a rebellious house."

"But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, 'This is what the Lord Yahweh says.' Whoever listens, let them listen. Whoever refuses, let them refuse. For they are a rebellious house."