Jezekiel 33
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and you shall say to them, On whatever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man of them, and set him for their watchman:
Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people;
If when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 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.
Then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and takes not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 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.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.
6 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 amongst them, that [soul] is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood [thereof] will I require at the watchman's hand.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
7 And you, son of man, I have set you [as] a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth.
So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
8 When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die; [if] you speak not to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
9 But if you forewarn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but you have delivered your own soul.
Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
10 And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel; Thus have you spoken, saying, Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live?
Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus all of you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
11 Say to them, Thus says 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 you heartily from your way; for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn all of you, turn all of you from your evil ways; for why will all of you die, O house of Israel?
12 Say to the children of your 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.
Therefore, you son of man, say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.
13 When I say to the righteous, [You shall 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.
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.
14 And when I say to the ungodly, You shall surely die; and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgement and justice,
Again, when I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15 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.
If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered: because he has wrought judgement and righteousness; by them shall he live.
None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 Yet the children of your people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight: whereas this their way is not straight.
Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
18 When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them.
When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19 And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgement and righteousness, he shall live by them.
But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 And this is that which you said, The way of the Lord is [not] straight. I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one for his ways.
Yet all of you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O all of you house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
21 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.
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
22 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.
Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 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.
Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Wherefore say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; All of you eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall all of you possess the land?
All of you stand upon your sword, all of you work abomination, and all of you defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall all of you possess the land?
27 Therefore say to them, Thus says 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 kill with pestilence.
Say you thus unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.
28 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.
For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.
29 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.
Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.
30 And [as for] you, son of man, the children of your people are they that speak concerning you 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.
Also, you son of man, the children of your people still are talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD.
31 They approach you as a people comes together, and sit before you, and hear your words, but they will not do them: for [there is] falsehood in their mouth, and their heart [goes] after their pollutions.
And they come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.
32 And you are to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned lute, and they will hear your words, but they will not do them.
And, lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your words, but they do them not.
33 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.
And when this comes to pass, (lo, it will come, ) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
