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 3,17 Hes 3,17
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;
if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So thou, son of man, I have set 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, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die {Or, for}in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
The watchmen that go about the city found me;To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So thou, son of man, I have set 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, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then {Greek: powers.}miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, {Or, wise counsels}governments, divers kinds of tongues.
The watchmen that go about the city found me,They smote me, they wounded me;The keepers of the walls took away my {Or, veil}mantle from me.
And whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall warn them, that they be not guilty towards Jehovah, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not be guilty.
For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman: let him declare what he seeth:
Cry {Hebrew: with the throat.}aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward {Or, every night}whole nights;
To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Dumah.One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, {Or, what hour}what of the night? Watchman, {Or, what hour}what of the night?
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the {Or, fortress}tower, and will look forth to see what he will speak {Or, by}with me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.
The watchman said, The morning {Or, is come}cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: {Or, come ye again}turn ye, come.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming {Or, for baptism}to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, {Or, how}when Jehovah returneth to Zion.
I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers, {Or, keep not silence}take ye no rest,
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
And I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.
whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.
And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all.
Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you {Or, overseers}bishops, to feed the church of {Some ancient authorities, including the two oldest manuscripts read God.}the Lord which he {Greek: acquired.}purchased with his own blood.
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with {Greek: groaning.}grief: for this were unprofitable for you.