Ezekiel 3:5
3 “Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—
6 not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
7 But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—
- KJV
- For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
- WEB
- For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel—
- ASV
- For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
- DARBY
- For thou art not sent to a people of strange language, and of difficult speech, [but] to the house of Israel;
- BLB
- For not to a people of unfathomable speech and heavy tongue are you being sent, [but] to the house of Israel—
- ÅB
- For ikke til et folk med vanskelig språk og tungt mæle sendes du, men til Israels hus;
- OTB
- For du blir ikke sendt til et folk med uforståelig tale eller vanskelig språk, men til Israels hus—
- B1930
- For ikke til et folk med vanskelig sprog og tungt mæle sendes du, men til Israels hus;
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jonah 1:2
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
Read in contextIsaiah 33:19
You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.
Read in contextEzekiel 3:6
not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
Read in contextJonah 3:2–4
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
Read in contextIsaiah 28:11
Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
Read in contextActs 26:17–18
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
Read in contextPsalms 81:5
He ordained it as a testimony for Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I heard an unfamiliar language:
Read in context