And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll.
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
For thou art not sent to a people {Hebrew: deep of lip and heavy of tongue,}of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
not to many peoples {Hebrew: deep of lip and heavy of tongue,}of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee.
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.
As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears.
And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from his place.
And I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels {Or, over against}beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me.
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that {Or, sat}dwelt by the river Chebar, {Another reading is, and I sat where they sat.}and to where they {Or, sat}dwelt; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.
And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the {Or, valley}plain, and I will there talk with thee.
Then I arose, and went forth into the {Or, valley}plain: and, behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house.
But thou, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:
and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.
But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
Querverweise zu Hesekiel 3,7 Hes 3,7
And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.
And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: {Or, unto whom I send thee}I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah.
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust.
And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear),
{Or, Their respecting of persons doth &c.}The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have done evil unto themselves.
Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
O Jehovah, {Hebrew: are not thine eyes upon.}do not thine eyes look upon {Or, faithfulness}truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive {Or, instruction}correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee.
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not!
But his citizens hated him, and sent an ambassage after him, saying, We will not that this man reign over us.
and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.
I receive not glory from men.
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves.
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from {Some ancient authorities read the only one.}the only God ye seek not?
Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope.
For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
Remember the word that I said unto you, A {Greek: bondservant.}servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.
He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.