Study Desk

I am sending you to speak to them, but they are very stubborn. They are very hardheaded, but you must speak to them. You must say, ‘This is what the Lord God says.'

They are people who refuse to obey, so they may not listen to you. But even if they don't stop sinning, at least they will know that there is a prophet living among them.

"Son of man, don't be afraid of the people or what they say. It is true: they will turn against you and try to hurt you. Their words will be sharp like thorns and will sting like scorpions. But don't be afraid of what they say. They are people who refuse to obey, but don't be afraid of them.

I am not sending you to many different countries where people speak languages you cannot understand. If you went to those people and spoke to them, they would listen to you. But you will not have to learn those hard languages.

But I will make you just as stubborn as they are, and your head just as hard.

Then go to all of your people in exile and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says ….' They will not listen, and they will not stop sinning, but you must still tell them my message."

The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I was very sad and upset in my spirit, but I felt the Lord 's power in me.

If I say, ‘These evil people will die!' Then you must warn them. You must tell them to change their lives and stop doing evil. If you don't warn them, they will die because they sinned. But I will also make you responsible for their death, because you did not go to them and save their lives.

"If you warn them and tell them to change their lives and stop doing evil, but they refuse to listen, they will die because they sinned. But since you warned them, you will have saved your own life.

"If good people stop being good and begin to do evil, and I send something that makes them stumble and sin, they will die because they sinned. But since you did not warn them and remind them of the good things they had done, I will make you responsible for their death.

"But if you warn good people and tell them to stop sinning, and they listen to your warning and stop sinning, they will not die. In that way you will have saved your own life."

But the Spirit came into me and lifted me up on my feet. He said to me, "Go home and lock yourself in your house.

But I will talk to you, and then I will allow you to speak. But you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.' If a person wants to listen, fine. If a person refuses to listen, fine. But those people always turn against me.

Then I said, "Oh, but Lord God , I have never eaten any unclean food. I have never eaten meat from an animal that died from a disease or from an animal that was killed by a wild animal. I have never eaten unclean meat—not from the time that I was a little baby until now. None of that bad meat ever entered my mouth."

But then you must get a few of those hairs and wrap them up in your robe.

God said, "Jerusalem, I will destroy you—you will be nothing but a pile of rocks. The people around you will make fun of you. Everyone who walks by will make fun of you.

People around you will make fun of you, but you will also be a lesson for them. They will see that I was angry and punished you. I was very angry and I warned you. I, the Lord , told you what I would do.

God said, "But I will let a few of your people escape. They will live in other countries for a short time. I will scatter them and force them to live in other countries.

Then the survivors will be taken as prisoners. They will be forced to live in other countries, but they will remember me. I broke their spirit. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did. In the past, they turned away from me and left me. They chased after their filthy idols. They were like a woman leaving her husband and running off with another man. They did many terrible things,

but they will learn that I am the Lord . Then they will know that if I say that I will do something, I will do it! They will know that I caused all the troubles that happened to them."