Ezekiel 33

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

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,

“You human, speak to your fellow Israelis and say this to them: ‘When I bring an enemy army [MTY] to attack a country, and the people of that country choose one of their men and appoint him to be a watchman,

3 and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.

if he sees the enemy army [MTY] coming to attack his country, and he blows a trumpet to warn 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.

if anyone hears the trumpet and does not heed the warning, and as a result he is killed by the sword [of one of his enemies], he will be responsible for his own death [MTY].

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.

If he had heeded the warning, he would have (have saved his life/still be alive). But because he heard the sound of the trumpet and did not heed that warning, his death will be his own fault.

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 sees the enemy army [MTY] coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and one of his people is killed by an enemy sword, that person will die because of his sin, but I will consider that the watchman is responsible for that man’s death.’

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.

So, you human, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the Israeli people [MTY]. So always listen to what I say and warn the people for me.

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 some wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die [because of your sins,’ you must tell him that]. If you do not speak to that person to warn him that he should turn away from his sins, that wicked person will die because of his sins, but I will say that you are responsible for his death [MTY].

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 you warn that wicked person that he should turn away from his sins, and he does not do that, he will die because of his sins, but you will have saved your life.

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?’

You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what you all are saying: “[The guilt that we have for] disobeying God’s laws and sinning is like a heavy weight on us, and it is hurting us, and we are slowly dying. So what can we do to continue to remain alive?”’

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, ‘Yahweh the Lord says, “As surely as I am alive, I am not happy when wicked people die; I would prefer that they turn away from their wicked behavior and continue to live. So repent! Turn away from your evil behavior! You Israeli people, do you really want to die [RHQ]?”’

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.’

Therefore, you human, say to your fellow Israelis, ‘If righteous people start to disobey me, their being righteous previously will not save them [from being punished]. And if wicked people turn away from their wicked behavior, they will not die because of the sins that they committed [previously]. And if righteous people start to sin, they will not be allowed to remain alive because of their formerly being righteous.’

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.

If I tell righteous people that they will surely remain alive, but then they trust/think that because they have been righteous previously, they can start to do evil [and not be punished], I will not think about the righteous things that they did previously; they will die because of the evil things that they are doing.

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 if I say to some wicked person, ‘You will surely die [because of your sins],’ that person may turn away from his sinful behavior and do what is just and right [DOU].

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.

For example, he may return what he took from another person to guarantee [that that person would pay back what he owes], or he may return things that he has stolen, and he may obey the laws that will enable [those who obey them] to remain alive, and he will not continue to do evil things. If that happens, he will surely remain alive; he will not die [because of the sins that he committed previously].

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.

I will not think about the sins that he has committed; he will surely remain alive.

17 Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.

Your fellow Israelis say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But it is your behavior that is not fair.

18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.

If a righteous person turns away from doing what is righteous and starts to do what is evil, [it is fair that] he die because of his sins.

19 But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.

And if a wicked person turns away from his wicked behavior and does what is right and fair [DOU], [it is fair] for him to remain alive because of doing that.

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.”

But you Israeli people still say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But I will judge each of you for what you do.”

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!”

Almost twelve years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the fifth day of the tenth month [of that year], a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me [in Babylon] and said, “Jerusalem has been captured!”

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.

The evening before that man arrived, Yahweh took control [MTY] of me, and when that man arrived, Yahweh enabled me to speak again; I was no longer forced to be silent.

23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,

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.’

“You human, the people who are living in the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, but Yahweh [promised him that he and his descendants] would possess this land. But we are many; so surely this land has been given to us [by Yahweh] to continue to possess.’

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?

So send a message to them. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You eat meat that still has the animal’s blood in it. You still worship idols. And you still murder others [MTY]. So, (should this land belong to you?/this land should certainly not belong to you!) [RHQ]

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?’

You rely on using your swords [to obtain things that you want]. You do many detestable things. Each of you has sex with other men’s wives. So (why should you continue to possess the land of Israel?/you should not continue to possess this land!) [RHQ]’

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.

Send this message to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: As surely as I am alive, those who are left in the ruins [in Jerusalem] will also be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and those who are living in the countryside will be killed by wild animals, and those who are living in forts and caves will die from a plague.

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.

I will cause your country to become a desolate wasteland. You will no longer be proud of being a strong country. The mountains of Israel will become very desolate, with the result that no one will walk across them.

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.’

Then, when I have caused your country to become a desolate wasteland because of all the detestable things that you have done, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’

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!’

As for you, you human, your fellow Israelis [here in Babylon] are talking about you along the city walls and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, ‘Come and listen to the message that has come from Yahweh!’

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.

My people come to you as they often have done, and they sit in front of you to listen to what you say. But they do not do what you tell them that they must do. With their mouths they say that they love me, but in their inner beings they are eager to acquire things by doing what is unjust.

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.

To them, you are only a man who sings love songs with a beautiful voice, and you play a musical instrument well. They hear what you say, but they do not do what you tell them to do.

33 So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

The terrible things that I have said will happen to them will surely happen. And then they will know that a prophet has been among them, [and that you are that prophet].”