Ezekiel 3:9

3:9 I have made your forehead harder than flint – like diamond! ¹  Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, ²  for they are a rebellious house.”

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 ³  them, for they are a rebellious house. 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue ⁴  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, ⁵  for they are a rebellious house.

[3:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.

[3:9]  ² tn Heb “of their faces.”

[3:26]  ³ 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.

[3:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “open your mouth.”

[3:27]  ⁵ 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.”