UST EZE Chapter 3

◄ EZE 3 ► ║ ═ ©

3 He said to me, “Mortal, eat it. Yes, eat this scroll! Then, go! Declare my message to the Israelite people.” 2 I opened my mouth wide, and he fed the scroll to me. 3 Then he said to me, “Mortal, chew and swallow the scroll that I have given to you. Fill your stomach with it.” I did so, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 Then the one sitting on the throne said to me, “Mortal, it is time for you to go to the Israelite people, so that you might declare my message to them. 5 The people to whom I am dispatching you do not speak a language that is so complex that it is difficult to speak or understand. I am dispatching you to your own Israelite people. 6 Again, I am not dispatching you to many different people who speak languages that are too complex, whose language you cannot understand. If I were to dispatch you to those people, they would heed your message! 7 Yet the Israelite people will never want to heed what you say. After all, they do not even want to heed what I, Yahweh, say! This is because all of them are obstinate and hardhearted. 8 But, pay attention! I have enabled you to be as calloused to them as they are to me, and as stubbornly opposed to them as they are to me! 9 I have enabled you to be more resolute and dangerous to the Israelite people than a diamond-hard thorn! Still, you must not allow them to make you afraid, or let the looks that they give you terrify you. After all, these people reject my authority and openly defy me!

10 Then he said to me, “Mortal, think very carefully about everything I say to you, and listen to it attentively.” 11 So now, go to your own people, your fellow Israelites, whom the Babylonians have forcibly removed from the land of Judah, so that you can talk to them. You must declare to them what I, the Sovereign Yahweh, am speaking to them directly. You must do this whether the Israelite people heed what you tell them or whether they refuse to listen.” 12 Then, the wind of God’s Spirit lifted me up. Behind me, I heard something that sounded like a massive earthquake. The sound sounded like someone shouting the words, “Praise our glorious Yahweh in his house in the Temple of Jerusalem!” 13 I also heard the noise of the wings of the four creatures, as they began to flap and brush against the other creatures’ wings, along with the noise of the wheels advancing alongside them. All of this sounded as if it were a massive earthquake. 14 Then, the wind of God’s spirit carried me up and took me away from the Kebar Canal. Yet, as I went, I was resentful and angry, and Yahweh was powerfully authorizing me to declare his message. 15 So, I went to the people whom the Babylonians had forcibly removed from Judah and resettled in the town of Tel Aviv near the Kebar Canal in Babylon. There, where they were living, I sat down and did not move for seven days. I sat there among them, completely dumbfounded and overwhelmed.

16 After those seven days had ended, Yahweh spoke this message to me: 17 “Mortal, I am appointing you to shout warnings of imminent threats and disasters to your fellow Israelite people, just like the watchman at the gate of a city. So, when you hear the messages that I speak to you directly, you must declare them to the Israelite people to warn them. 18 Now, I might declare that a sinful person is assuredly going to die in my just judgment. And you might choose to not warn him or inform him that, if he desires to save his life, he must cease his sinful and unjust lifestyle. If you do this, the wicked person will die nevertheless because of his sinful and unjust behavior. However, I will maintain that you are responsible for his death, since you did not act to prevent it. 19 However, you might choose to warn that sinful person, and yet he might not cease his sinful and unjust lifestyle. If this happens, I will still justly judge that sinful person so that he dies because of his sinful and unjust behavior. Yet, as for you, you will have protected yourself from my just punishment.

20 Alternatively, a virtuous and just person might cease his honest behavior and begin acting unjustly. When that happens, I may cause his life to become so unduly difficult and painful. That now-sinful person will assuredly die in my just judgment. However, you might choose not to warn him about my judgment against him and his imminent death. If you do this, the once-just person will die nevertheless because of his recent unjust behavior. I will choose not to remember the just and honest things that he once did. However, I will maintain that you are responsible for his death, since you did not act to prevent it. 21 However, you might choose to warn that once-honest and just person, so that he ceases his sinful and unjust behavior and returns to his honest and just lifestyle. If this happens, that individual will continue to live because you warned him of my just judgment and his imminent. death Furthermore, as for you, you will have protected yourself from my just punishment.”

22 Then, Yahweh was powerfully present with me there. He spoke to me: “Stand up, and travel to the valley outside of town. At that place, I will talk to you.” 23 So, I stood up and went out to the valley. There, I suddenly beheld Yahweh’s glorious presence. It was just like the glorious presence that I had beheld when I was standing beside the Kebar Canal. When I saw it, I prostrated myself flat onto the ground.

24 Then, the wind of God’s Spirit came upon me and enabled me to stand up. Yahweh said to me, “Go into your house and lock yourself inside it. 25 As for you, mortal—pay attention! The Israelite people who live along the Kebar Canal will tie you up with ropes, so that you will be unable to go out among them. 26 And I will make you unable to speak, as if you were mute and your tongue was stuck to the top of your mouth. So, I will make it impossible for you to pronounce my reprimands against these people. After all, every one of the Israelite people continuously refuses to listen to me or obey me! 27 However, whenever I tell you my messages, I will empower you to declare them to the Israelite people. You must declare to the people what I, the Sovereign Yahweh, am speaking to them directly. The one who is willing to listen to me will listen, but the one who refuses to accept my message will continue to refuse me. After all, they are all people who continuously reject me and disobey me!”

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