Yehezkiel 3:5-9

3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech ¹  and difficult language, ²  but ³  to the house of Israel – 3:6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand ⁴  – surely if ⁵  I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ⁶  because they are not willing to listen to me, ⁷  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ⁸ 

3:8 “I have made your face adamant ⁹  to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. 3:9 I have made your forehead harder than flint – like diamond! ¹⁰  Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, ¹¹  for they are a rebellious house.”

Yehezkiel 3:17-21

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ¹²  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ¹³  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ¹⁴  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ¹⁵  3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. ¹⁶ 

3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle ¹⁷  before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he ¹⁸  does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Yehezkiel 20:4

20:4 “Are you willing to pronounce judgment? ¹⁹  Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers,

Yehezkiel 22:2

22:2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ²⁰  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ²¹  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds!

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “deep of lip” (in the sense of incomprehensible).

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “heavy of tongue.” Similar language occurs in Exod 4:10; Isa 33:19.

[3:5]  ³ tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied from the context.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “if not” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9; 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.

[3:7]  ⁶ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

[3:7]  ⁷ sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”

[3:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “strong, resolute.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[3:17]  ¹² tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[3:18]  ¹³ sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[3:19]  ¹⁶ tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.

[3:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.

[3:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the righteous man.”

[20:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment.

[22:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.

[22:2]  ²¹ tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.