Ezekiel 3:16-27

English Standard Version

A Watchman for Israel

^16 (A)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (B)“Son of man, ^(C)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(D)give them warning from me. ^18 (E)If I say to the wicked, ^(F)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(G)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^(H)shall die for^[a] his iniquity, ^(I)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (J)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^(K)but you ^(L)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (M)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(N)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(O)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(P)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(Q)but 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 (R)And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^(S)the valley,^[b] and ^(T)there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^(U)the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^(V)by the Chebar canal, ^(W)and I fell on my face. ^24 (X)But 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, ^(Y)cords 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 ^(Z)you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^(AA)for they are a rebellious house. ^27 (AB)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(AC)‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^(AD)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.