Ezekiel 3:5 (LSB)

Passage

For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel,

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:3 And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 3:4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now, come to the house of Israel, and you shall speak with My words to them.

Ezekiel 3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel,

Ezekiel 3:6 nor to many peoples of unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you;

Ezekiel 3:7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn with a strong forehead and stiff heart.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sent", "people", "unintelligible", "lips", "difficult", "tongue", "house", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sent" and "people", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Then He said to me Son of..." into verse 6's "nor to many peoples of unintelligible lips...", so "sent" and "people" 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 "sent" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.