Ezekiel 3:17 (DRB)

Passage

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:15 And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.

Ezekiel 3:16 And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

Ezekiel 3:18 If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.

Ezekiel 3:19 But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thee", "watchman", "house", "israel", "thou", "shalt", "hear", and "word". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thee" and "watchman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And at the end of seven days..." into verse 18's "If when I say to the wicked...", so "thee" and "watchman" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thee" and "watchman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.