Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up, even until now, have I not eaten ... neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. Ezekiel, as a priest, had been accustomed to the strictest abstinence from everything legally impure. Peter felt the same scruple at a similar command (Acts 10:14: cf. Isaiah 65:4). Positive precepts, being dependent on a particular command, can be set aside at the will of the divine ruler; but moral precepts are everlasting in their obligation, because God cannot be inconsistent with His own unchanging moral nature.
Abominable flesh - literally, flesh that stank from putridity: Flesh of animals three days killed was prohibited (Leviticus 7:17-18; Leviticus 19:6-7).