CHAPTER 3
1 And he said to me, Son of man, eat thou whatever thing thou findest, eat thou this volume; and go thou, and speak to the sons of Israel.
2 And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that volume.
3 And he said to me, Son of man, thy womb shall eat, and thine entrails shall be filled with this volume, which I give to thee. And I ate it, and it was made as sweet honey in my mouth.
4 And he said to me, Son of man, go thou to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.
5 For thou shalt not be sent to a people of high word, and of unknown language; thou shalt be sent to the house of Israel,
6 neither to many peoples of high word, and of unknown language, of which thou mayest not hear the words. And if thou were sent to them, they should hear thee.
7 But the house of Israel will not hear thee, for they will not hear me. For all the house of Israel is of defouled, either of unshamefast, forehead, and of hard heart.
8 Lo! I gave thy face stronger than the faces of them, and thy forehead harder than the foreheads of them.
9 And I gave thy face as an adamant, and as a flint; dread thou not them, neither dread thou of the face of them, for it is an house stirring me to wrath.
10 And he said to me, Son of man, take in thine heart, and hear with thine ears all these my words, which I speak to thee.
11 And go thou, and enter to the passing over, to the sons of thy people. And thou shalt speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, if peradventure they hear, and rest.
12 And the spirit took me, and I heard after me the voice of a great moving. The blessed glory of the Lord was heard from his place;
13 and I heard the voice of wings of the beasts smiting one another, and the voice of wheels pursuing the beasts, and the voice of a great stirring.
14 Also the spirit raised me, and took me. And I went forth bitter in the indignation of my spirit; for the hand of the Lord was with me, and comforted me.
15 And I came to the passing over, to the heap of new fruits, to them that dwelled beside the flood Chebar. And I sat where they sat, and I dwelled there seven days, wailing, in the midst of them.
16 Forsooth when seven days were passed, the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,
17 Son of man, I gave thee to be an espyer, or a beholder, to the house of Israel. And thou shalt hear of my mouth a word, and thou shalt tell [it] to them of me.
18 If when I say to the wicked man, Thou shalt die by death, thou tellest it not to him, and speakest not to him, that he be turned from his wicked way, and live; that wicked man shall die in his wickedness, but I shall seek his blood of thine hand.
19 Forsooth if thou tellest to the wicked man, and he is not converted from his wickedness, and from his wicked way; soothly he shall die in his wickedness, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 But also if a just [or rightwise] man is turned from his rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and doeth wickedness, I shall set an hurting before him; he shall die, for thou toldest not to him; he shall die in his sin, and his rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses], which he did, shall not be in mind, but I shall seek his blood of thine hand.
21 Forsooth if thou tellest to a just man, that a just man do not sin, and he sin not, he living shall live, for thou toldest to him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.
22 And the hand of the Lord was made [up] on me, and he said to me, Rise thou, and go out into the field, and there I shall speak with thee.
23 And I rose, and went out into the field. And lo! the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw beside the flood Chebar; and I fell down on my face.
24 And the spirit entered into me, and setted me on my feet. And he spake to me, and said to me, Enter thou, and be thou enclosed in the midst of thine house.
25 And thou, son of man, lo! bonds be given on thee, and they shall bind thee with those [or them], and thou shalt not go out in the midst of them.
26 And I shall make thy tongue to cleave to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and thou shalt not be as a man rebuking; for it is an house stirring to wrath.
27 But when I shall speak to thee, I shall open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, He that heareth, hear, and he that resteth, rest; for it is an house stirring to wrath.