9. I have made you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be frightened by them. They are a people who turn against me.”
10. Also, the Lord said to me, “Human being, believe all the words that I will speak to you. And listen carefully.
11. Go to the captives, your people. And speak to them, whether they listen or not. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says this.’”
12. Then the Spirit lifted me up. And I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. A voice said, “Praise God in heaven.”
13. I heard the wings of the living creatures touching each other. And I heard the sound of the wheels by them. It was a loud rumbling sound.
14. So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I was unhappy and angry. I felt the great power of the Lord.
15. I came to the captives from Judah. They lived by the Kebar River at Tel Abib. I sat there seven days where these people lived. I was shocked.
16. After seven days the Lord spoke his word to me again. He said,
17. “Human being, I have made you a watchman for Israel. Any time you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me.
18. When I say to an evil person, ‘You will surely die,’ you must warn him. If you don’t speak out to warn the evil person to leave his evil way, he will die in his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his death.
19. You must warn the evil person. Then if he does not turn from his wickedness or his evil ways, he will die because of his sin. But you will have saved yourself.
20. “Again, a person who does right may turn away from his goodness. He may do evil. If I caused him to sin, he will die. Because you have not warned him, he will die because of his sin. And the good he did will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for his death.
21. But if you do warn that good person not to sin, he may not sin. Then he will surely live. This is because he was warned. And you will save yourself.”
22. Then I felt the power of the Lord there. He said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain. There I will speak to you.”
23. So I got up and went out to the plain. I saw the glory of the Lord standing there. It was like the glory I saw by the Kebar River. And I bowed facedown on the ground.