Ezekiel Eats the Scroll
(Revelation 10:1–11)

1And He said to me, “Son of man, what you find, you must eat. Eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel!”

2And I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat this scroll.

3And He said to me: “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your bowels with this scroll that I am giving to you!”

And I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4And He said to me, “Son of man, go, come into the house of Israel, and speak with My words to them. 5For not to a people of unfathomable speech and heavy tongue are you being sent, but to the house of Israel— 6not to many peoples of unfathomable speech and heavy tongue, whose words you cannot understand. If I had not sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7And the house of Israel are not willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to Me! For all the house of Israel, they are strong of forehead and hard of heart.

8Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 9I have made your forehead like a diamond stronger than flint. Do not be afraid of them, and do not be dismayed at their faces, for they are a house of rebellion.”

10And He said to me: “Son of man, all My words that I speak to you, take into your heart, and hear with your ears. 11And go, come to the captivity, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH!’—Whether they hear or whether they refuse.”

12And the Spirit† lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great quaking: ‘Blessed is the glory of YHWH from His place!†’ 13And the voice of the wings of the living creatures, touching each one to her sister, and the voice of the wheels beside them, and the a voice of a great quaking.

14And the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit. And the hand of YHWH upon me was strong. 15And I came to the captivity at Tel-abib, those dwelling by the River Kebar, and I sat there where they were sitting, and I sat there seven days being desolate among them.

A Watchman for Israel

16And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; and hear a word from My mouth, and give them a warning from Me.

18In My saying to the wicked, ‘You will surely die!’ And you do not warn him, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked one will die in his iniquity,† and his blood I will require from your hand. 19And you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn back from his wickedness and from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity and you will have delivered your own soul.

20And in the turning away of a righteous one from his righteousness so that he does iniquity, and I set a stumbling block before him, he will die because you did not give him warning—in his sin† he will die—and his righteousness that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I will require from your hand. 21And you, if you warn the righteous not to sin—the righteous one—and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he was warned and you will have delivered your own soul.”

22And the hand of YHWH was upon me there, and He said to me: “Rise, go out into the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

23And I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, there the glory of YHWH was standing, like the glory that I saw by the River Kebar. And I fell upon my face.

24And the Spirit came into me and set me upon my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself up inside your house. 25And you, son of man, behold, they will place around you ropes, and they will bind you with them so that you cannot go out in their midst. 26And your tongue I will make cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute, and you will be for them as a man unable to rebuke, for they are a house of rebellion.

27And in My speaking with you, I will open your mouth, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH!’—The one hearing, let him hear, and the one refusing, let him refuse. For they are a house of rebellion.