¹ He then said, 'Son of man, eat what you see; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.'

² I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat

³ and then said, 'Son of man, feed on this scroll which I am giving you and eat your fill.' So I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.

⁴ He then said, 'Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.

⁵ You are not being sent to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language; you are being sent to the House of Israel.

⁶ Not to big nations that speak difficult foreign languages, and whose words you would not understand -- if I sent you to them, they would listen to you;

⁷ but the House of Israel will not listen to you because it will not listen to me. The whole House of Israel is defiant and obstinate.

⁸ But now, I am making you as defiant as they are, and as obstinate as they are;

⁹ I am making your resolution as hard as a diamond, harder than flint. So do not be afraid of them, do not be overawed by them, for they are a tribe of rebels.'

¹⁰ Then he said, 'Son of man, take to heart everything I say to you, listen carefully,

¹¹ then go to your exiled countrymen and talk to them. Say to them, "Lord Yahweh says this," whether they listen or not.'

¹² The spirit lifted me up, and behind me I heard a great vibrating sound, 'Blessed be the glory of Yahweh in his dwelling-place!'

¹³ This was the sound of the living creatures' wings beating against each other, and the sound of the wheels beside them: a great vibrating sound.

¹⁴ The spirit lifted me up and took me, and I went, bitter and angry, and the hand of Yahweh lay heavy on me.

¹⁵ I came to Tel Abib, to the exiles beside the River Chebar where they were living, and there I stayed with them in a stupor for seven days.

¹⁶ After seven days the word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

¹⁷ 'Son of man, I have appointed you as watchman for the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them from me.

¹⁸ If I say to someone wicked, "You will die," and you do not warn this person; if you do not speak to warn someone wicked to renounce evil and so save his life, it is the wicked person who will die for the guilt, but I shall hold you responsible for that death.

¹⁹ If, however, you do warn someone wicked who then fails to renounce wickedness and evil ways, the wicked person will die for the guilt, but you yourself will have saved your life.

²⁰ When someone upright renounces uprightness to do evil and I set a trap for him, it is he who will die; since you failed to warn him, he will die for his guilt, and the uprightness he practised will no longer be remembered; but I shall hold you responsible for his death.

²¹ If, however, you warn someone upright not to sin and this person does not sin, such a one will live, thanks to your warning, and you too will have saved your life.'

²² While I was there the hand of Yahweh came on me; he said, 'Get up, go out into the valley, and there I shall speak to you.'

²³ I got up and went out into the valley; the glory of Yahweh was resting there, like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell to the ground.

²⁴ The spirit of Yahweh then entered me and put me on my feet and spoke to me. He said, 'Go and shut yourself in your house.

²⁵ Son of man, you are about to be tied and bound, and unable to mix with other people.

²⁶ I am going to make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth; you will be dumb, and no longer able to reprove them, for they are a tribe of rebels.

²⁷ When I speak to you, however, I shall open your mouth and then you will say to them, "Lord Yahweh says this: Let anyone prepared to listen, listen; let anyone who refuses, refuse!"-for they are a tribe of rebels.'

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

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