1እርሱም፣ “የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ በፊትህ ያለውን ብላ፤ ይህን ጥቅልል መጽሐፍ ብላና ሄደህ ለእስራኤል ቤት ተናገር” አለኝ። 2ስለዚህ አፌን ከፈትሁ፤ እርሱም መጽሐፉን አጐረሠኝ።
3እርሱም፣ “የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ እኔ የምሰጥህን ይህን ጥቅልል መጽሐፍ ብላ፤ ሆድህንም ሙላ” አለኝ። እኔም በላሁት፤ በአፌም ውስጥ እንደ ማር ጣፈጠኝ።
4እርሱም እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ ተነሥተህ ወደ እስራኤል ቤት ሂድ፤ ቃሌንም ንገራቸው። 5ወደ እስራኤል ቤት እንጂ፣ ንግግሩ ወደማይገባና ቋንቋው ወደማይታወቅ ሕዝብ አልተላክህም፤ 6ንግግራቸው ወደማይገባና ቋንቋቸው ወደማይታወቅ፣ ቃላቸውንም መረዳት ወደማይቻልህ ብዙ ሕዝብ አልላክሁህም። ወደ እነርሱ ልኬህ ቢሆን ኖሮ፣ በርግጥ ይሰሙህ ነበር። 7ነገር ግን የእስራኤል ቤት ሁሉ ልበ ደንዳኖችና እልኸኞች ስለሆኑ ሊሰሙኝ አልፈለጉም፤ ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ቤት አንተንም አይሰሙህም። 8እነሆ እኔ በእነርሱ ፊት የማትበገር ጠንካራ አደርግሃለሁ። 9ግንባርህን ከባልጩት ይልቅ እንደሚጠነክር ድንጋይ አደርገዋለሁ። ዐመፀኛ ቤት ቢሆኑም እንኳ አትፍራቸው፤ በፊታቸውም አትሸበር።”
10እርሱም እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ የምነግርህን ቃል ሁሉ በጥንቃቄ አድምጥ፤ በልብህም ያዝ። 11ተነሥተህም በምርኮ ወዳሉት ወገኖችህ ሄደህ ተናገራቸው፤ ቢሰሙህም ባይሰሙህም፣ ‘ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል’ በላቸው።”
12መንፈስም ወደ ላይ ከፍ አድርጎ አነሣኝ፤ ከኋላዬም፣ “የእግዚአብሔር ክብር በማደሪያ ስፍራው ይባረክ!” የሚል ታላቅ ህምህምታ ሰማሁ፤ 13ይህም የሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን ክንፎች እርስ በርስ ሲጋጩና በአጠገባቸው ያሉት መንኰራኲሮች የሚያሰሙት ታላቅ ህምህምታ ነበር። 14መንፈስ ወደ ላይ ከፍ አድርጎ ወሰደኝ፤ እኔም በምሬትና በመንፈሴ ቍጣ ሄድሁ፤ የእግዚአብሔርም ጽኑ እጅ በላዬ ነበረች። 15ከዚያም በኮቦር ወንዝ አጠገብ በቴልአቢብ ወደሚኖሩት ምርኮኞች መጣሁ፣ በድንጋጤ ፈዝዤም ከእነርሱ ጋር ሰባት ቀን በመካከላቸው ተቀመጥሁ።
ለእስራኤል የተሰጠ ማስጠንቀቂያ
16ከሰባቱም ቀን በኋላ፣ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ወደ እኔ እንዲህ ሲል መጣ፤ 17“የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ ለእስራኤል ቤት ጠባቂ አድርጌሃለሁ፤ ስለዚህ ቃሌን ስማ፤ የምነግርህንም ማስጠንቀቂያ አስተላልፍላቸው። 18እኔ ኀጢአተኛውን ሰው፣ ‘በርግጥ ትሞታለህ’ ባልሁት ጊዜ አንተ ባታስጠነቅቀው፣ ነፍሱንም ያድን ዘንድ ከክፉ ሥራው እንዲመለስ ባትነግረው፣ ያ ኀጢአተኛ በኀጢአቱ3፥18 ወይም ስለ ኀጢአቱ፤ እንዲሁም 19 እና 20 ይመ ይሞታል፤ አንተንም ስለ ደሙ በኀላፊነት እጠይቅሃለሁ። 19ነገር ግን ኀጢአተኛውን ሰው አስጠንቅቀኸው፣ ከኀጢአቱና ከክፉ መንገዱ ባይመለስ፣ እርሱ በኀጢአቱ ይሞታል፤ አንተ ግን ነፍስህን ታድናለህ።
20“ጻድቁ ሰው ደግሞ ከጽድቁ ተመልሶ ኀጢአት ቢሠራ፣ እኔም መሰናክል በፊቱ ባስቀምጥ እርሱ ይሞታል፤ አንተ አላስጠነቀቅኸውምና በኀጢአቱ ይሞታል፤ ያደረገውም ጽድቅ አይታሰብለትም፤ አንተንም ስለ ደሙ በኀላፊነት እጠይቅሃለሁ። 21ነገር ግን ጻድቁን ሰው ኀጢአት እንዳይሠራ ብታስጠነቅቀውና እርሱም ኀጢአትን ባይሠራ፣ ተጠንቅቋልና በርግጥ በሕይወት ይኖራል፤ አንተም ነፍስህን ታድናለህ።”
22የእግዚአብሔር እጅ በላዬ ነበረ፤ እርሱም፣ “ተነሥተህ ወደ ረባዳው ስፍራ ሂድ፤ በዚያ እናገርሃለሁ” አለኝ። 23እኔም ተነሥቼ ወደ ረባዳው ስፍራ ሄድሁ። በኮቦር ወንዝ አጠገብ ያየሁት ዐይነት ክብር፣ የእግዚአብሔር ክብር በዚያ ቆሞ ነበር፤ እኔም በግንባሬ ተደፋሁ።
24መንፈስ በውስጤ ገብቶ በእግሬ አቆመኝ፤ እንዲህም ሲል ተናገረኝ፤ “ሂድ፤ ቤትህ ገብተህ በርህን ዝጋ። 25አንተ፣ የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ በገመድ ይጠፍሩሃል፤ ወጥተህም በሕዝብ መካከል እንዳትመላለስ ያስሩሃል። 26ዐመፀኛ ቤት ቢሆኑም ልትገሥጻቸው እንዳትችል ምላስህን ከላንቃህ ጋር አጣብቃለሁ፤ ድዳም ትሆናለህ። 27ነገር ግን በምናገርህ ጊዜ አፍህን እከፍታለሁ፤ አንተም፣ ‘ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል’ ትላቸዋለህ። የሚሰማ ይስማ፤ የማይሰማም አይስማ፤ ዐመፀኛ ቤት ናቸውና።
1Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4¶ And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;3.5 of a…: Heb. deep of lip, and heavy of tongue 6Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.3.6 of a…: Heb. deep of lip, and heavy of language3.6 Surely…: or, If I had sent thee, etc. would they not have hearkened unto thee? 7But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.3.7 impudent…: Heb. stiff of forehead, and hard of heart 8Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. 11And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 12Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. 13I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.3.13 touched: Heb. kissed 14So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.3.14 in bitterness: Heb. bitter3.14 heat: Heb. hot anger
15¶ Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.3.20 righteousness which: Heb. righteousnesses 21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
22¶ And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 23Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.3.26 a reprover: Heb. a man reproving 27But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
