Ezekiel 33

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, give a word to the children of your people, and say to them, When I make the sword come on a land, if the people of the land take a man from among their number and make him their watchman:

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, If there be a land over which I bring the sword, and the people of the land take a man from among themselves, and appoint him unto themselves for a watchman;

3 If, when he sees the sword coming on the land, by sounding the horn he gives the people news of their danger;

And if he see the sword coming over the land, and blow the cornet, and warn the people;

4 Then anyone who, hearing the sound of the horn, does not take note of it, will himself be responsible for his death, if the sword comes and takes him away.

And whosoever heareth the sound of the cornet, and taketh no warning; and the sword cometh, and taketh him away: his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 On hearing the sound of the horn, he did not take note; his blood will be on him; for if he had taken note his life would have been safe.

The sound of the cornet hath he heard, and he hath taken no warning; his blood shall be upon him. But had he taken warning he would have delivered his soul.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood.

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the cornet, so that the people be not warned, and the sword cometh, and taketh away from among them some person: this one is taken away for his iniquity; but his blood will I require from the watchman's hand.

7 So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel; and you are to give ear to the word of my mouth and give them news from me of their danger.

But as for thee, O son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: so that when thou hearest a word from my mouth, thou shalt warn them from me.

8 When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked one, thou shalt surely die; and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way: that wicked one shall die for his iniquity; but his blood will I require from thy hand.

9 But if you make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way for the purpose of turning him from it, and he is not turned from his way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, but your life will be safe.

Nevertheless, if thou hast indeed warned the wicked of his way to turn away from it, and he do not turn from his way: he shall certainly die for his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 And you, son of man, say to the children of Israel, You say, Our wrongdoing and our sins are on us and we are wasting away in them; how then may we have life?

But thou, O son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus do ye speak, saying, Truly our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them do we pine away: how then shall we live?

11 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the evil-doer; it is more pleasing to me if he is turned from his way and has life: be turned, be turned from your evil ways; why are you looking for death, O children of Israel?

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Eternal, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but in the return of the wicked from his way that he may live: return ye, return ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the upright man will not make him safe in the day when he does wrong; and the evil-doing of the evil man will not be the cause of his fall in the day when he is turned from his evil-doing; and the upright man will not have life because of his righteousness in the day when he does evil.

But thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble through it on the day that he returneth from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live through the other on the day that he sinneth.

13 When I say to the upright that life will certainly be his; if he puts his faith in his righteousness and does evil, not one of his upright acts will be kept in memory; but in the evil he has done, death will overtake him.

When I say of the righteous, that he shall surely live, and he trusteth to his own righteousness, and committeth what is wrong: all his righteous deeds shall not be remembered, and for his wrong that he hath committed, —through this shall he die.

14 And when I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; if he is turned from his sin and does what is ordered and right;

Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and he turneth from his sin, and executeth justice and righteousness;

15 If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him.

If the wicked restore the pledge, make restitution for what he hath robbed, walk in the statutes of life, so as not to do any wrong: he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16 Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in mind against him: he has done what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his.

All his sins that he hath committed shall not be remembered unto him: justice and righteousness hath he executed, he shall surely live.

17 But the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: when it is they whose way is not equal.

Yet say the children of thy people, The way of the Lord is not equitable: while, as to them, their way is not equitable.

18 When the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, death will overtake him in it.

When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and doth what is wrong, he shall even die therefore.

19 And when the evil man, turning away from his evil-doing, does what is ordered and right, he will get life by it.

And when the wicked returneth from his wickedness, and executeth justice and righteousness, he shall surely live therefore.

20 And still you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, I will be your judge, giving to everyone the reward of his ways.

Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equitable. Every one after his own ways will I judge you, O house of Israel.

21 Now in the twelfth year after we had been taken away prisoners, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had got away in flight from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The town has been taken.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month after our exile, that there came unto me one that had escaped out of Jerusalem, saying, The city hath been smitten.

22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before the man who had got away came to me; and he made my mouth open, ready for his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no longer without voice.

Now the inspiration of the Lord was come upon me in the evening, before the coming of the one who had escaped; and he had opened my mouth, before he was come to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened and I was not kept dumb any more.

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

24 Son of man, those who are living in these waste places in the land of Israel say, Abraham was but one, and he had land for his heritage: but we are a great number; the land is given to us for our heritage.

Son of man, they that dwell in these ruins in the land of Israel say as followeth, But one man was Abraham, and he obtained the land as an inheritance; and as we are many, the land must [surely] be given to us for an inheritance.

25 For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?

Therefore say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, By the blood do ye eat, and your eyes do you lift up toward your idols, and blood do ye shed: and ye expect to possess the land?

26 You put your faith in your swords, you do disgusting things, everyone takes his neighbour's wife: are you to have the land for your heritage?

Ye depend upon your sword, ye commit abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife: and ye expect to possess the land?

27 This is what you are to say to them: The Lord has said, By my life, truly, those who are in the waste places will be put to the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts for their food, and those who are in the strong places and in holes in the rocks will come to their death by disease.

Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, As I live, surely those that are in the ruined places shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts that they may devour him, and those that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die through the pestilence.

28 And I will make the land a waste and a cause of wonder, and the pride of her strength will come to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be made waste so that no one will go through.

And I will render the land desolate and wasted, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none to pass through them.

29 Then they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a waste and a cause of wonder, because of all the disgusting things which they have done,

And they shall experience that I am the Lord, when I render the land desolate and wasted, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 And as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking together about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, saying to one another, Come now, give ear to the word which comes from the Lord.

And thou, son of man, [there are] the children of thy people, who are talking about thee by the walls and in the entrances of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Do come, and hear what the word is which cometh forth from the Lord.

31 And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.

And then they come unto thee as the people come, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but do not execute them; for as merry songs they carry them in their mouth, while their heart goeth after their unlawful gains.

32 And truly you are to them like a love song by one who has a very pleasing voice and is an expert player on an instrument: for they give ear to your words but do them not.

And, lo, thou art unto them as a merry song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well: and [thus] they hear thy words, but execute them not.

33 And when this comes about (see, it is coming), then it will be clear to them that a prophet has been among them.

But when it cometh to pass, [lo, it will come, ] then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.