1 And he said to me, ^c“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^tEat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^uThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^vas sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, ^w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^xSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 ^yBut the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^zhave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 ^aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like ^bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^dall my words that I shall speak to you receive ^ein your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, ^fto your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^g‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^hwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”

12 ⁱThen the Spirit¹ lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice² of ^ja great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of ^kthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^la great earthquake. 14 ^mThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ⁿhand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 ^oAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^oby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.³ And ^pI sat there ^qoverwhelmed among them ^rseven days.

A Watchman for Israel

16 ^sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ^t“Son of man, ^uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^vgive them warning from me. 18 ^wIf I say to the wicked, ^x‘You shall surely die,’ ^vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^yshall die for⁴ his iniquity, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 19 ^aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^bbut you ^cwill have delivered your soul. 20 ^dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^zbut 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 ^fAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^gthe valley,⁵ and ^hthere I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ⁱthe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^jby the Chebar canal, ⁱand I fell on my face. 24 ^kBut 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, ^lcords 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 ^myou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ⁿfor they are a rebellious house. 27 ^oBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^p‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^qHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 “And you, ^rson of man, ^stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 ^tAnd put siegeworks against it, ^uand build a siege wall against it, ^vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ^wand plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; ^xand set your face toward it, ^yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ^za sign for the house of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment⁶ of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ^ayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, ^b390 days, ^cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. ^aSo long shall you bear ^dthe punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ^ebear ^fthe punishment of the house of Judah. ^gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 ^hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ⁱwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, ^jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed ^kthe days of your siege.

9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,⁷ and put them into a single vessel and make your ^lbread from them. ^mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, ⁿ390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be ^oby weight, ^ptwenty shekels⁸ a day; from day to day⁹ you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink ^oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;¹⁰ from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^qin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, ^s“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.^{11 t}From my youth up till now I have never eaten ^uwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has ^vtainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, ^w“Son of man, behold, ^xI will break the supply¹² of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread ^oby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water ^oby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ^ylook at one another in dismay, and ^zrot away because of their punishment.

Qualifications for Overseers

1 The saying is ^vtrustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^wthe office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore ^xan overseer¹ must be above reproach, ^ythe husband of one wife,^{2 z}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^ahospitable, ^bable to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but ^cgentle, not quarrelsome, ^dnot a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^ekeeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^wGod’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^fbecome puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^goutsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^ha snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

8 ⁱDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{3 j}not addicted to much wine, ^knot greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must ^lhold the mystery of the faith with ^ma clear conscience. 10 And ⁿlet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 ^oTheir wives likewise⁴ must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^pfaithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be ^qthe husband of one wife, ^qmanaging their children and their own households well. 13 For ^rthose who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: