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Ezek.3:1. And he said to me: Son of man, snow this scroll, and go, and tell the sons of Israel. He rightly said above: if they hear, they will be afraid, because what is offered to the Prophet is filled with horror, sobbing, and pity, and grief written on a whole scroll, both inside and outside. A scroll is the name given to rolled up writings. For the ancients preserved written monuments in this way. The Jews still have the divine Scriptures in such scrolls. Ezek.3:2. And she opened my mouth, and she fed me with this scroll. Ezek.3:3. And he said to me: Son of man, your mouth will eat, and your belly will be filled with this scroll given to you: and you will eat it, and it will be in my mouth like sweet honey. “How sweet is Your word to my throat,” says the divine David, “more than honey to my mouth” (Ps. 119:103). Crying over sins is sweet and very pleasant; “I have received sorrow from the sinners who forsake Thy law” (Ps. 119:53), says the same Prophet, and: “I have seen those who do not understand and fail, because they have not kept Thy words” (Ps. 119:158). And his son admonishes him, saying: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (Eccl. 7:3). So for the Prophet, eating the scroll became like honey, although there was nothing pleasant and joyful in it, but “weeping, and pity, and grief.” But let no one understand eating the scroll in a sensual and carnal sense. For just as the Prophet contemplated the whole vision spiritually, so he also partakes of this spiritual experience. Ezek.3:4–6. And he said to me: Son of man, go and enter into the house of Israel, and speak my words to them: for we are not sending you to a people who are deep-spoken and slow-tongued, but to the house of Israel, and even to many people who are foreign-speaking, foreign-tongued, or have a heavy tongue, even if you did not understand their words: if you had sent thee to the people, then also these listened to you: The difference between the works of the apostles and the prophets is clearly shown here. One was entrusted with the care of one people from which they came, and with whom they spoke the same language, and the other, according to the word of the Lord, was entrusted with the universe and all nations; for it is said: “Go and learn all languages” (Matthew 28:19), whose dialects are numerous and varied, and their customs are diverse, and their laws are opposite. However, those who were entrusted with many nations, different languages, various morals and all kinds of laws, corrected the universe, and those who were entrusted with this unbridled people suffered a lot of labor, but did not reap the fruits worthy of their labor. And the reason for this is not the laziness of the workers, but the rudeness of those who cultivate. That is why the Lord Himself says: “If he had sent you to the people, then they too would have listened to you.” Ezek.3:7. but the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they do not want to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is disobedient and hard-hearted: He showed the obedience of the pagan peoples and the disobedience of Israel: he also explained what was said: “if they hear,” making it clear that He is not ignorant, but knows for sure their disobedience, and at the same time explains that this disobedience depends on arbitrariness, and not on nature, for he says, “the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they do not want to listen to Me,” i.e. do not grieve that they do not They will listen to you, contradicting Me, they will also resist what you tell them in word, and the reason for the contradiction is the stubbornness of the will, the cruelty of the heart, the audacity of thoughts. But do not be afraid that these are the ones to whom I am sending you. Ezek.3:8–9. And behold, I have made your face strong against their face, and I will strengthen your cane against them: and your face will always be stronger than stone; 4 do not fear them, nor be dismayed at their face; you will anger the house before. That is, knowing the deceit of their hearts, remove all fear from your thoughts, because I will give you strength corresponding to their rebellion, I will impart strength commensurate with your labors, I will make your face harder than any stone, so that, enduring insults, beatings and any other disaster, you will not run away from serving the word, you will not abandon care for them. Ezek.3:10–11. And he said to me: Son of man, take all the words that were spoken to you into your heart, and listen with your ears: and you went into captivity to the sons of your people, and said to them: Thus says the Lord Adonai: If they hear, and if they obey. When addressing them, do not say anything of your own, but serve My words, and offer what I have commanded you; Perhaps they will be ashamed of your labors and fear My threats. Expressing doubt, as I said, does not mean ignorance, but excites the effort of freedom. Ezek.3:12. And he took my spirit, and heard the voice of the great coward behind him: Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place. Having received these commands, says the Prophet, I hurried to fulfill the ministry and it was not my legs that I was allowed to use, but by divine assistance I was transferred to those to whom I was sent. Of necessity, he also accepts the feeling of a coward, so that, overwhelmed by fear, he performs the service. He says the chant that he raised, feeling like a coward: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place,” taught to it, as the Prophet said, by God Himself. For to blessed Moses, who asked to see and know God to him, the Lord said: “For no man shall see My face and live” (Exod. 33:20), and then adds: “This place is with Me, and I will put you in a cleft of the stone, and I will cover you with My hand, and you will see My back, but My face will not appear to you” ( Ex. 33:21–23), not because in the Divinity there was a distinction between “front” and “back,” but because by the word “front” is meant the essence of God, and by the word “back” are divine dispensations and many kinds of benefits shown to us. Therefore, “His place” the Prophet calls goodness, by which God, incomprehensible by nature, becomes comprehensible to the worthy, as far as this is possible for them. Ezek.3:13. And I saw the voice of the animals screaming at each other, and the voice of the wheels holding on to them, and the voice of the coward was great 5. While this was being said to me, the animals began to move, moving with their wings, the wheels followed them, and as they moved, a great coward occurred, because a great noise was coming from everywhere. Ezek.3:14. And the spirit lifted me up, and took me, and the spirit was lifted up in the aspiration of my spirit, For the grace of the Divine Spirit that was within me caused me, like some feathered animal, to cut through the air between heaven and earth. and the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. Again this denotes the grace of the Spirit. Ezek.3:15. And inhaled into captivity he was lifted up, that is, I did not walk with my feet, but rushed through the air. and they lived on the river Chebar, who were there, and lived that seven days, walking among them. Having arrived to those to whom it was commanded, says the Prophet, I spent seven days in silence, awaiting divine influence. Ezek.3:16–17. And after seven days the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have given thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, that thou mayest hear the word from my mouth, and rebuke them from me. That is, pretend to be a spy, which all the people post on the hill, ordering him to let him know how soon he sees the invasion of the barbarians. Therefore, you too, as if standing on some kind of telescope and guardian of prophecy, proclaim to the people what you provide, and convey to them My words. Ezek.3:18. If you ever speak to the wicked, you will die: and you will not tell him, nor will you say a word, that the wicked will remain and turn away from his path, even as he lives: that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will exact his blood from your hand. This threat is terrible and terrible, and it can lead the most stony to fear; but the goodness manifested in this threat is also inexpressible. God threatens the righteous man that he will punish him if he does not announce the threat of death to the wicked, and does not teach him what is the cause of life and what leads to death. The Creator and Lord of all desires the repentance of sinners so much that if someone acquires all the virtues, but neglects the souls entrusted to him, he will not receive any benefit from his own successes, but will even be punished for this negligence. But, as it is likely that the Prophet used all the methods of healing, and those being treated were incurably ill and did not accept the proposed healing, then God, of necessity, adds: Ezek.3:19. And if you tell the wicked, and he does not turn from his way and from his iniquity, that wicked man will die in iniquity, but you will deliver your soul. You will be innocent, says God, by doing as you should and doing everything that depends on you. For if his illness remains unhealed, he alone will bear the punishment for disobedience. But it is necessary to know that, according to what was said above and here, the lawless one, who remains in lawlessness, when there is one who proclaims, that is, who teaches, and when he is not, will be punished, because nature itself is sufficient to distinguish what should be done, and the teaching is taught in abundance, since the goodness of God uses all means for the salvation of people. Ezek.3:20. And when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits a sin: and I give torment before him, he will die, because you did not forbid him, and he will die in his sins, before the righteousness of his which he has done will not be remembered to him, but I will require his blood at your hand. He did not simply say: “if a righteous man sins,” but: if “he turns aside from his righteousness and commits a sin,” that is, if he leaves the right path that he walked and turns to another path. For blessed David also sinned, and his sins were very great, but he did not leave the path that he walked; having stumbled and fallen, he rebelled and continued to walk the same path. Therefore, God says, if a righteous person, having abandoned his path, loves the opposite path, and you, knowing this, do not expose this inconsistency and do not try to return him to his previous path, then he will find an end worthy of the second path, having destroyed all his previous work, because he went the other way, the ends of the paths are opposite, and correspond to the very paths, the end of one is life, and the end of the other is death, and therefore he will necessarily destroy what he has acquired previous labors, having accepted the end of the path of the evil one, but his lost life “I will exact from your hand” and subject you to punishment for negligence. Ezek.3:21. If you tell the righteous that he will not sin, he will not sin, and the righteous will live the life that you forbade him, and you will deliver your soul. You will gain two lives, for yourself and for him. And according to your suggestions, he will avoid the abyss of death and find an end worthy of the righteous path, and you will be freed from responsibility and avoid the greatest danger, taking care of the salvation of your neighbor. This is enough to motivate us to be careful and force us to have every concern for our brothers, not to stop saying and doing everything for their benefit, so that through this we too can avoid the threatening punishment and obtain the promised salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. With Him, glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever! Amen. Ezek.3:22. And the hand of the Lord was on me, and he said to me: Arise and go out into the field, and there he will speak to you. For the contemplation of the divine is best suited to silence. The mind, freed from external distractions, and no longer divided here and there, but going deeper into itself, can comprehend the divine with greater accuracy. Ezek.3:23–24. And he arose and breathed out into the field: and behold, the glory of the Lord stood like a vision and like the glory that I saw on the river Chebar; and fell on my faces. And the spirit came upon me, and set me on my foot: The prophet often enjoys contemplation in order to become more diligent in serving the word. But you should know that even revelations commensurate with human nature were not able to be contemplated by those who had a very pure mind, just as now this Prophet, not for the first time, has been granted a vision, having barely raised his gaze, he falls and has a need for restorative grace. and spoke to me and said to me: Come in and shut yourself in the midst of your house. God commands to prophesy not with words, but with deeds, and by what the Prophet is commanded to do, he will prefigure the siege of Jerusalem. Ezek.3:25. And you, son of man, sat down with chains, and they bound you with them, and you did not leave the midst of them: Ezek.3:26. and I will tie your tongue to your throat, and you will be speechless, and you will not reproach them as a husband, until you anger the house: The Lord, like a pestun, anoints the Prophet like some kind of fighter, predicting future sorrows and sorrows that the people will cause him, and also commanding him to endure this, to be patient and to remain silent until He Himself allows him to speak. Each time he adds: “There is a house to anger,” teaching thereby not to be afraid of those who anger God, because lawless people are worthy of contempt. Ezek.3:27. and whenever I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and say to them: This says Adonai the Lord: Hear, let him hear, and do not repent, let him not submit: for this is a house of great sorrow. And this makes it clear to see the self-will of the heart, for God says: offer a teaching common to all. Showing that obedience is a voluntary matter, he adds to what has been said: whoever wants, let him obey, and the disobedient, holding the opposite way of thinking, let him contradict, because everyone accepts reward according to the choice of his will. In Slavic: “Yes, I take yours.”