Bible Gateway passage: Ezekiel 3 - New International Version (2025)

3And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate^(A) it, and it tasted as sweet as honey^(B) in my mouth.

⁴He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.^{(C) 5}You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,^(D) but to the people of Israel— ⁶not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.^{(E) 7}But the people of Israel are not willing to listen^(F) to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.^{(G) 8}But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.^{(H) 9}I will make your forehead^(I) like the hardest stone, harder than flint.^(J) Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^(K)”

¹⁰And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart^(L) all the words I speak to you. ¹¹Go^(M) now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’^(N) whether they listen or fail to listen.^(O)”

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up,^(P) and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.^{[a] 13}It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures^(Q) brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.^{(R) 14}The Spirit^(S) then lifted me up^(T) and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^(U) on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.^(V) And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days^(W)—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{(X) 17}“Son of man, I have made you a watchman^(Y) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.^{(Z) 18}When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,^(AA)’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for^[b] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{(AB) 19}But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn^(AC) from their wickedness^(AD) or from their evil ways, they will die^(AE) for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.^(AF)

²⁰“Again, when a righteous person turns^(AG) from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block^(AH) before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{(AI) 21}But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.^(AJ)”

²²The hand of the Lord^(AK) was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go^(AL) out to the plain,^(AM) and there I will speak to you.” ²³So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,^(AN) and I fell facedown.^(AO)

²⁴Then the Spirit came into me and raised me^(AP) to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.^{(AQ) 25}And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.^{(AR) 26}I will make your tongue stick to the roof^(AS) of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.^{(AT) 27}But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^(AU) Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.^(AV)

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 3:12 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text sound—may the glory of the Lord be praised from his place
2. Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20

Cross references

1. Ezekiel 3:3 : S Jer 15:16
2. Ezekiel 3:3 : S Ps 19:10; Rev 10:9-10
3. Ezekiel 3:4 : Eze 11:4, 25
4. Ezekiel 3:5 : S Isa 28:11; Jnh 1:2
5. Ezekiel 3:6 : Jnh 3:5-10; Mt 11:21-23; Ac 13:46-48
6. Ezekiel 3:7 : S Jer 7:27
7. Ezekiel 3:7 : Isa 48:4; Jer 3:3; S Eze 2:4; Jn 15:20-23
8. Ezekiel 3:8 : Jer 1:18; S 15:20
9. Ezekiel 3:9 : S Isa 48:4
10. Ezekiel 3:9 : S Jer 5:3
11. Ezekiel 3:9 : Isa 50:7; Eze 2:6; 44:6; Mic 3:8
12. Ezekiel 3:10 : S Job 22:22
13. Ezekiel 3:11 : S Isa 6:9
14. Ezekiel 3:11 : ver 27
15. Ezekiel 3:11 : Eze 2:4-5, 7; 11:24-25
16. Ezekiel 3:12 : ver 14; Eze 8:3; 43:5
17. Ezekiel 3:13 : Eze 1:15
18. Ezekiel 3:13 : Eze 1:24; 10:5, 16-17
19. Ezekiel 3:14 : S 1Ki 18:12
20. Ezekiel 3:14 : S ver 12
21. Ezekiel 3:14 : ver 22; S Isa 8:11; Eze 37:1
22. Ezekiel 3:15 : S Ps 137:1
23. Ezekiel 3:15 : S Ge 50:10
24. Ezekiel 3:16 : Jer 42:7
25. Ezekiel 3:17 : S Isa 52:8
26. Ezekiel 3:17 : S Isa 58:1; Jer 1:17; Eze 11:4; Hab 2:1
27. Ezekiel 3:18 : S Ge 2:17; Jn 8:21, 24
28. Ezekiel 3:18 : ver 20
29. Ezekiel 3:19 : S Ps 7:12
30. Ezekiel 3:19 : S Ge 6:5
31. Ezekiel 3:19 : S Jer 42:16
32. Ezekiel 3:19 : S 2Ki 17:13; Eze 14:14, 20; Ac 18:6; 20:26; 1Ti 4:14-16
33. Ezekiel 3:20 : S Jer 34:16
34. Ezekiel 3:20 : S Lev 26:37; S Isa 8:14; S Eze 7:19
35. Ezekiel 3:20 : ver 18; Ps 125:5; Eze 18:24; 33:12, 18
36. Ezekiel 3:21 : Ac 20:31
37. Ezekiel 3:22 : S ver 14; S Eze 1:3
38. Ezekiel 3:22 : Ac 9:6
39. Ezekiel 3:22 : Eze 8:4
40. Ezekiel 3:23 : Eze 1:1
41. Ezekiel 3:23 : S Ge 17:3
42. Ezekiel 3:24 : S Eze 2:2
43. Ezekiel 3:24 : Jer 15:17
44. Ezekiel 3:25 : Eze 4:8
45. Ezekiel 3:26 : S Ps 22:15
46. Ezekiel 3:26 : Eze 2:5; 24:27; 33:22; Hos 4:4
47. Ezekiel 3:27 : ver 11
48. Ezekiel 3:27 : Eze 2:5; 12:3; 24:27; 29:21; 33:22; Rev 22:11