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Chapter 3
1 And he said to me: Son of man, eat all that you shall find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.
2 And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that book:
3 And he said to me: Son of man, your belly shall eat, and your bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give you. And I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak my words to them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:
6 Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words you can not understand: and if you were sent to them, they would hearken to you.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken to you: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.
8 Behold I have made your face stronger than their faces: and your forehead harder than their foreheads.
9 I have made your face like an adamant and like flint: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their presence: for they are a provoking house.
10 And he said to me: Son of man, receive in your heart, and hear with your ears, all the words that I speak to you:
11 And go get you in to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and you shall speak to them, and shall say to them: Thus said the Lord: If so be they will hear and will forbear.
12 And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.
13 And the noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion.
14 The spirit also lifted me, and took me up: and I went away in bitterness in the indignation of my spirit: for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.
15 And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.
16 And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: and you shall hear the word out of my mouth, and shall tell it them from me.
18 If, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die: you declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand.
19 But if you give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
20 Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because you have not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he has done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at your hand.
21 But if you warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he does not sin: living he shall live, because you have warned him, and you have delivered your soul.
22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to you.
23 And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.
24 And the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in; and shut yourself up in the midst of your house.
25 And you, O son of man, behold they shall put bands upon you, and they shall bind you with them: and you shall not go forth from the midst of them.
26 And I will make your tongue stick fast to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be dumb, and not as a man that reproves: because they are a provoking house.
27 But when I shall speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them: Thus said the Lord God: He that hears, let him hear: and he that forbears, let him forbear: for they are a provoking house.