Dual Panel1Then he said to me, “O man, eat what is in front of you; eat this scroll; then go and speak to the Israelites.”
2I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat,
3saying, “O man, swallow this scroll I give you, and eat your fill.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me.
4“O man,” he said to me, “go to the Israelites and declare my message to them.
5It is not to people whose speech is thick and difficult you are sent, but to Israelites.
6I am not sending you to great nations whose speech is so thick and so difficult that you cannot make out what they say; had I sent you to them they would have listened to you.
7But the Israelites will refuse to listen to you, for they refuse to listen to me; all of them are brazen-faced and stubborn-hearted.
8But I shall make you a match for them. I shall make you as brazen and as stubborn as they are.
9I shall make your brow like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them, do not be terrified by them, rebellious though they are.”
10He went on: “Listen carefully, O man, to all that I have to say to you, and take it to heart.
11Then go to your fellow-countrymen in exile and say to them, ‘These are the words of the Lord GOD,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”
12A spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a fierce rushing sound as the glory of the LORD rose from his place.
13I heard the sound of the living creatures' wings brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, a fierce rushing sound.
14A spirit lifted me and carried me along, and I went full of exaltation, the power of the LORD strong upon me.
15So I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who were settled by the river Kebar. For seven days I stayed there among them in a state of consternation.
16At the end of seven days this word of the LORD came to me:
17“I have appointed you, O man, a watchman for the Israelites; you will pass to them the warnings you receive from me.
18If I pronounce sentence of death on a wicked person and you have not warned him or spoken out to dissuade him from his wicked ways and so save his life, that person will die because of his sin, but I shall hold you answerable for his death.
19But if you have warned him and he persists in his wicked ways, he will die because of his sin, but you will have discharged your duty.
20Again, if someone who is righteous goes astray and does wrong, and I cause his downfall, he will die because you have not warned him. He will die for his sin; the righteous deeds he has done will not be taken into account, and I shall hold you responsible for his death.
21But if you have warned the righteous person not to sin and he does not sin, then he will have saved his life because he heeded the warning, and you will have discharged your duty.”
The coming ruin of Jerusalem
22THE LORD's hand was upon me there, and he said to me, “Rise, go out into the plain, and there I shall speak to you.”
23I arose, and when I went out into the plain, the glory of the LORD was there, like the glory which I had seen by the river Kebar, and I prostrated myself.
24Then a spirit came and set me on my feet. The LORD spoke to me: “Go,” he said, “and shut yourself up in your house.
25You will be tied and bound with ropes, O man, so that you cannot go out among the people.
26I shall make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth and you will be unable to speak and so rebuke them, that rebellious people.
27But when I have something to say to you, I shall give you back the power of speech. Then you will declare to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD said.’ If anyone will listen, he may listen; and if anyone refuses to listen, he may refuse. Rebels indeed they are!