Ezekiel 33
1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and thou shalt say to them, On whatsoever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man of them, and set him for their watchman:
3 and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.
and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people;
4 Then if anyone hears the sound of the horn but fails to heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
and he that hears the sound of the trumpet shall hear [indeed], and [yet] not take heed, and the sword shall come upon him, and overtake him, his blood shall be upon his [own] head.
5 Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
Because he heard the sound of the trumpet, and took no heed, his blood shall be upon him: but the other, because he took heed, has delivered his soul.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’
But if the watchman see the sword coming, and do not sound the trumpet, and the people do not watch; and the sword come, and take a soul from among them, that [soul] is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood [thereof] will I require at the watchman's hand.
7 As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them the warning from Me.
And thou, son of man, I have set thee [as] a watchman to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear a word from my mouth.
8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
When I say to the sinner, Thou shalt surely die; [if] thou speak not to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
But if thou forewarn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but thou hast delivered thine own soul.
10 Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel; Thus have ye spoken, saying, Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live?
11 Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
Say to them, Thus saith the Lord; [As] I live, I desire not the death of the ungodly, as that the ungodly should turn from his way and live: turn ye heartily from your way; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
12 Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’
Say to the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him, in the day wherein he errs: and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not harm him, in the day wherein he turns from his iniquity, but the righteous [erring] shall not be able to deliver himself.
13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
When I say to the righteous, [Thou shalt live; and] he trusts in his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity, none of his righteousnesses shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has wrought, in it shall he die.
14 But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right—
And when I say to the ungodly, Thou shalt surely die; and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgment and justice,
15 if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die.
and return the pledge, and repay that which he has robbed, [and] walk in the ordinances of life, so as to do no wrong; he shall surely live, and shall not die.
16 None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.
None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered: because he has wrought judgment and righteousness; by them shall he live.
17 Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.
Yet the children of thy people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight: whereas this their way is not straight.
18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.
When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them.
19 But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.
And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgment and righteousness, he shall live by them.
20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”
And this is that which ye said, The way of the Lord is [not] straight. I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one for his ways.
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
And it came to pass in the tenth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is taken.
22 Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and he opened my mouth, when he came to me in the morning: and my mouth was open, it was no longer kept closed.
23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24 “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
Son of man, they that inhabit the desolate [places] on the land of Israel say, Abram was one, and he possessed the land: and we are more numerous; to us the land is given for a possession.
25 Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
26 You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’
27 Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.
Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord God, [As] I live, surely they that are in the desolate places shall fall by swords and they that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and them that are in the fortified [cities] and them that are in the caves I will slay with pestilence.
28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
And I will make the land desert, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate by reason of no man passing through.
29 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’
And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desert, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have wrought.
30 As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!’
And [as for] thee, son of man, the children of thy people are they that speak concerning thee by the walls, and in the porches of the houses, and they talk one to another, saying, Let us come together, and let us hear the [words] that proceed from the Lord.
31 So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
They approach thee as a people comes together, and sit before thee, and hear thy words, but they will not do them: for [there is] falsehood in their mouth, and their heart [goes] after their pollutions.
32 Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.
And thou art to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned psaltery, and they will hear thy words, but they will not do them.
33 So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
But whenever it shall come [to pass], they will say, Behold, it is come: and they shall know that there was a prophet in the midst of them.
