12. Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. (May the glory of the lord be praised in his place!)
13. It was the sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them.
14. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the lord’s hold on me was strong.
15. Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel-abib, beside the Kebar River. I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days.
16. After seven days the lord gave me a message. He said,
17. “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.
18. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
19. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
20. “If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
21. But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”
22. Then the lord took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.”