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1 Moreouer he said vnto me, Sonne of man, eate that thou findest: eate this roule, and goe, speake vnto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and hee caused me to eate that roule.
3 And he said vuto mee; Sonne of man, cause thy belly to eate, and fill thy bowels with this roule that I giue thee. Then did I eate it, and it was in my mouth as honie for sweetnesse.
4 ¶ And he said vnto me, Sonne of man, goe, get thee vnto the house of Israel, and speake with my words vnto them.
5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel.
6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not vnderstand: surely had I sent thee to them, they would haue hearkened vnto thee:
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken vnto thee; for they will not hearken vnto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard hearted.
8 Behold, I haue made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
9 As an adamant harder then flint haue I made thy forehead: feare them not, neither be dismayed at their lookes, though they be a rebellious house.
10 Moreouer he said vnto me, Sonne of man, all my words that I shall speake vnto thee, receiue in thine heart, and heare with thine eares.
11 And goe, get thee to them of the captiuity, vnto thy people, and speake vnto them and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God, whether they will heare, or whether they will forbeare.
12 Then the spirit tooke me vp, and I heard behind me a voyce of a great rushing, saying Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.
13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the liuing creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheeles ouer against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14 So the spirit lifted me vp, and tooke me away, and I went in bitternesse, in the heate of my spirit, but the hand of the Lord was strong vpon mee.
15 ¶ Then I came to them of the captiuity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the riuer of Chebar, and I sate where they sate, and remained there astonished among them seuen daies.
16 And it came to passe at the end of seuen dayes, that the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;
17 Sonne of man, I haue made thee a watchman vnto the house of Israel: therefore heare the word at my mouth, & giue them warning from me.
18 When I say vnto the wicked; Thou shalt surely die, and thou giuest him not warning, nor speakest to warne the wicked from his wicked way to saue his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquitie: but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if thou warne the wicked, and he turne not from his wickednesse, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast deliuered thy soule.
20 Againe, when a righteous man doth turne from his righteousnesse and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling blocke before him, he shall die: because thou hast not giuen him warning, he shall die in his sinne, and his righteousnesse which he hath done shal not be remembred: but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21 Neuerthelesse if thou warne the righteous man, that the righteous sinne not, and he doth not sinne; he shall surely liue, because he is warned: also thou hast deliuered thy soule.
22 ¶ And the hand of the Lord was there vpon me, and he said vnto me; Arise, goe forth into the plaine, and I will there talke with thee.
23 Then I arose and went forth into the plaine, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there as the glory which I saw by the riuer of Chebar, and I fell on my face.
24 Then the spirit entred into me, and set me vpon my feet, and spake with me, and said vnto me, Goe shut thy selfe within thine house.
25 But thou, O sonne of man, behold, they shall put bands vpon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not goe out among them.
26 And I will make thy tongue cleaue to the roofe of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumme and shalt not be to them a reprouer: for they are a rebellious house.
27 But when I speake with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say vnto them; Thus saith the Lord God, He that heareth, let him heare, and he that forbeareth, let him forbeare: for they are a rebellious house.
The preparation of the prophet for his work. (1-11) His office, as that of a watchman. (12-2) The restraining and restoring his speech. (22-27)1-11 Ezekiel was to receive the truths of God as the food for his soul, and to feed upon them by faith, and he would be strengthened. Gracious souls can receive those truths of God with delight, which speak terror to the wicked. He must speak all that, and that only, which God spake to him. How can we better speak God's mind than with his words? If disappointed as to his people, he must not be offended. The Ninevites were wrought upon by Jonah's preaching, when Israel was unhumbled and unreformed. We must leave this unto the Divine sovereignty, and say, Lord, thy judgments are a great deep. They will not regard the word of the prophet, for they will not regard the rod of God. Christ promises to strengthen him. He must continue earnest in preaching, whatever the success might be.
12-21 This mission made the holy angels rejoice. All this was to convince Ezekiel, that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work. He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people, and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen. And however retirement, meditation, and communion with God may be sweet, the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation. The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel. If we warn the wicked, we are not chargeable with their ruin. Though such passages refer to the national covenant made with Israel, they are equally to be applied to the final state of all men under every dispensation. We are not only to encourage and comfort those who appear to be righteous, but they are to be warned, for many have grown high-minded and secure, have fallen, and even died in their sins. Surely then the hearers of the gospel should desire warnings, and even reproofs.
22-27 Let us own ourselves for ever indebted to the mediation of Christ, for the blessed intercourse between God and man; and a true believer will say, I am never less alone than when thus alone. When the Lord opened Ezekiel's mouth, he was to deliver his message boldly, to place life and death, the blessing and the curse, before the people, and leave them to their choice.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.