Ezekiel 3:6 (DRB)

Passage

Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:4 And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.

Ezekiel 3:5 For thou art not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:

Ezekiel 3:6 Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.

Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.

Ezekiel 3:8 Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces: and thy forehead harder than their foreheads.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "nations", "strange", "speech", "unknown", "tongue", "whose", "words", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "nations" and "strange", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "For thou art not sent to a..." into verse 7's "But the house of Israel will not...", so "nations" and "strange" 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 "nations" and "strange" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.