Ezekiel 3:26-27

3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove ¹  them, for they are a rebellious house. 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue ²  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, ³  for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 24:26-27

24:26 On that day a fugitive will come to you to report the news. ⁴  24:27 On that day you will be able to speak again; ⁵  you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹ tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.

² tn Heb “open your mouth.”

³ tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”

⁴ tn Heb “to make the ears hear.”

⁵ tn Heb “your mouth will open.”