Jezekiel 33
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
The LORD’s word came to 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 tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from amongst them, 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 on the land, he blows the shofar and warns 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 whoever hears the sound of the shofar and doesn’t heed the warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on 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 shofar and didn’t take warning. His blood will be on him; whereas if he had heeded the warning, he would have delivered 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 sees the sword come and doesn’t blow the shofar, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from amongst them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will 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, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings 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 tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood 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, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will 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?
“You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘You say this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then can we 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?
Tell 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, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, 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.
“You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it 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 tell the righteous that he will surely live, if he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed.
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 to the wicked, “You will surely die,” if he turns from his sin and does 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 which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity, he will surely live. He will 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 will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will 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 fair;” but as for them, their way is not fair.
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 will even die therein.
19 And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgement and righteousness, he shall live by them.
When the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, he will live by it.
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 you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, I will judge every one of you 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.
In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!”
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 LORD’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
The LORD’s word came to 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, those who inhabit the waste places in Eretz-Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance.’
Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land?
You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbour’s wife. So should 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.
“You shall tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give whoever is in the open field to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will 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.
I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will 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 they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment 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.
“As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out 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.
They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
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.
Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them.
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.
“When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been amongst them.”
