1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth pas sweet as honey.
4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, qif I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a rhard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 Behold, sI have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 tLike emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. uFear them not, nor 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 to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ vwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”
12 Then wthe Spirit1 lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice2 of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the xglory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the ysound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the zwheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, athe hand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling bby the Chebar canal, and I csat where they were dwelling.3 And I sat there overwhelmed among them dseven days.
A Watchman for Israel
16 And eat the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 f“Son of man, I have made you a gwatchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall hdie for4 his iniquity, ibut his blood I will jrequire at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, kif a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a lstumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”
22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley,5 and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, mlike the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and nI fell on my face. 24 But othe Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25 And you, O son of man, behold, pcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be qmute and unable to reprove them, 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.’ rHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, slet him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
1 “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a tsign for the house of Israel.
4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment6 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, ua day for each year. 7 And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, I will place vcords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,7 and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels8 a day; from day to day9 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin;10 from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it win their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread xunclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.11 From my youth up till now yI have never eaten zwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has atainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will bbreak the supply12 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and cwith anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and drot away because of their punishment.
20 By faith pIsaac invoked future blessings on Jacob qand Esau. 21 By faith rJacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, sbowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith tJoseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning uhis bones.
23 By faith vMoses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was wbeautiful, and they were not afraid of xthe king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the yson of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the zreproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the areward. 27 By faith bhe left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is cinvisible. 28 By faith dhe kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the eDestroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith fthe people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith gthe walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 hBy faith iRahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of jGideon, kBarak, lSamson, mJephthah, of nDavid and oSamuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, pstopped the mouths of lions, 34 qquenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 rWomen received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 sOthers suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were tstoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and uin dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, though vcommended through their faith, wdid not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not xbe made perfect.
