Eze 2-3 | ESV | STEP | And he said to me, Son of man , stand on your feet , and I will speak with you.

1 And he said to me, ^a“Son of man, ^{▼▼Or Son of Adam; so throughout Ezekiel} ^cstand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, ^dthe Spirit entered into me and ^eset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to ^fnations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. ^gThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are ^himpudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And ⁱwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ^ja rebellious house) ^kthey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, ^lbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, ^mthough briers and thorns are with you and you sit on ⁿscorpions. ^{▼▼Or on scorpion plants} Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, ^pwhether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^qBe not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^reat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, ^sa hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^ta scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^uon the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Ezekiel 3

1 And he said to me, ^v“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^wEat 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.” ^xThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^yas sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, ^z“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. ^aaSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 ^abBut 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 ^achave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 ^adBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like ^aeemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^afFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^agall my words that I shall speak to you receive ^ahin your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, ^aito your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^aj‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^akwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”

12 ^alThen the Spirit ^{▼▼Or the wind; also verse 14} lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice ^{▼▼Or sound} of ^aoa great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of ^apthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^aqa great earthquake. 14 ^arThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ^ashand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 ^atAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^auby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. ^{▼▼Or Chebar, and to where they dwelt} And ^awI sat there ^axoverwhelmed among them ^ayseven days.

A Watchman for Israel

16 ^azAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ^ba“Son of man, ^bbI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^bcgive them warning from me. 18 ^bdIf I say to the wicked, ^be‘You shall surely die,’ ^bfand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^bgshall die for ^{▼▼Or in; also verses 19, 20} his iniquity, ^bibut his blood I will require at your hand. 19 ^bjBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^bkbut you ^blwill have delivered your soul. 20 ^bmAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^bnand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^boBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^bpand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^bqbut 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 ^brAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^bsthe valley, ^{▼▼Or plain; also verse 23} and ^buthere I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^bvthe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^bwby the Chebar canal, ^bxand I fell on my face. 24 ^byBut the 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, ^bzcords 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 ^cayou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^cbfor they are a rebellious house. 27 ^ccBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^cd‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^ceHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.