Ezekiel 33

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

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them:

“Son of man, tell your people: If I brought an army to attack a country, the people there would choose one of them to be their watchman.

3 And he see the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people:

When he saw the army advancing to attack the country, he would blow the trumpet to warn everyone.

4 Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come, and cut him off: his blood shall be upon his own head.

So if you hear the trumpet but don't pay attention to the warning, and you're killed in the attack, you will be responsible for your own death.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not look to himself, his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life.

Since you heard the trumpet but didn't pay attention to the warning, then you will be responsible for your own death. If you had paid attention the warning, you could have saved your life.

6 And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet: and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come, and cut off a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.

But if the watchman saw the attack coming and didn't blow the trumpet to warn everyone, and someone is killed, then that person will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their death.

7 So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I tell you and warn them for me.

8 When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.

If I tell the wicked ‘You're wicked; you're going to die’; but you don't warn them to change what they're doing, then they'll die in their sins and I will hold your responsible for their deaths.

9 But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way: he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.

But if you warn the wicked to change what they're doing, and they don't, they will die in their sins, but you will save your own life.

10 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them: how then can we live?

Son of man, tell the people of Israel that this is what they've been saying, ‘We recognize our sins and wrongs, and they weigh on us, wearing us out. How can we go on living?’

11 Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will you die, O house of Israel?

Tell them: As I live, declares the Lord God, it brings me no pleasure when wicked people die. I wish they would stop sinning and live! Stop! Stop sinning! Why should you die, people of Israel?

12 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin: and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness: and the just shall not be able to live in his justice, in what day soever he shall sin.

So, son of man, tell your people: All the good things a good person has done won't save them when they sin; while the bad things a bad person has done won't be a problem for them if they stop sinning. But good people won't live if they start sinning.

13 Yea, if I shall say to the just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity: all his justices shall be forgotten, and in his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.

If I tell a good person that they will live and then they rely on their goodness and start sinning, then none of the good things they did will be remembered; he will die because of the sins.

14 And if I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die: and he do penance for his sin, and do judgment and justice,

But if I tell a bad person, ‘You're going to die’ and they stop sinning and do what is good and right,

15 And if that wicked man restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing: he shall surely live, and shall not die.

if they return security given for a loan, pay back what they've stolen, and follows my laws about how to live, not doing wrong—then they will live; they won't die.

16 None of his sins, which he hath committed, shall be imputed to him: he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live.

None of their sins will be remembered; they have done what is good and right and so they will live.

17 And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable: whereas their own way is unjust.

However, your people are complaining, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ But it's what they're doing that isn't right.

18 For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them.

If a good person stops doing good and sins, they will die because of it.

19 And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments, and justice: be shall live in them.

On the other hand, if a bad person turns from their sins and they do what is good and right, they will live as a result.

20 And you say: The way of the Lord is not right, I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.

So how can you say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right’? Well, I'm going to judge each of you depending on what you've done, people of Israel.”

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that there came to me one that was fled from Jerusalem, saying: The city is laid waste.

On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our exile, a refugee who'd escaped from Jerusalem arrived and told me, “The city has been captured!”

22 And the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was fled came: and he opened my mouth till he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I was silent no more.

The previous evening before the messenger arrived the Lord had touched me so I could speak again. This was before the man came to see me in the morning. I wasn't mute any longer—I could speak again.

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

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

24 Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places in the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many, the land is given us in possession.

“Son of man, people living among the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, but the country was given to him to own. There's plenty of us, so the country should belong to us.’

25 Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God, You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?

So tell them that this is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with the blood still in it. You go and worship your idols. You commit murder. Do you really think the country should belong to you?

26 You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbour’s wife; and shall you possess the land by inheritance?

You rely on your swords to get your way. You have done some disgusting things. You're all having sex with each other's wives. Should the country belong to you?

27 Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places, shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in holds, and caves, shall die of the pestilence.

Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: As I live, in the people living among the ruins will be killed by the sword. Those living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals. Those living in the fortresses and caves will die from disease.

28 And I will make the land a wilderness, and a desert, and the proud strength thereof shall fail, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass by them.

I will turn the country into a wasteland, and power you are so proud of will be ended. The mountains of Israel will become wild places that no one will want to travel through.

29 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land waste and desolate, for all their abominations which they have committed.

Then the people will acknowledge that I am the Lord, when I have turned the country into a wasteland because of all the disgusting things they have done.

30 And thou son of man: the children of thy people, that talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another each men to his neighbour, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

Son of man, your people are talking about you out in the streets and in the doorways of their houses. They encourage one another, saying, ‘Come on! Let's go and hear a message from the Lord!’

31 And they come to thee, as if a people were coming in, and my people sit before thee: and hear thy words, and do them not: for they turn them into a song of their mouth, and their heart goeth after their covetousness.

So my people come and visit you like they usually do. They sit and listen to the message you share, but they don't do anything about it. Even though they talk about love, all they're thinking about is how to cheat others.

32 And thou art to them as a musical song which is sung with a sweet and agreeable voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not.

In fact, to them you're just someone who sings love songs with a lovely voice and who is a fine musician. They listen to the message you share, but they don't do anything about it.

33 And when that which was foretold shall come to pass, (for behold it is coming, ) then shall they know that a prophet bath been among them.

So when what you say does happen (and it will), then they will realize that they did have a prophet among them.”