Ezekiel 33

1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 “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.

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them all, and set him for their watchman:

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

if he see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4 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.

then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 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.

He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood is upon him: whereas had he taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.

6 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.

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take a person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 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.

So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 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.

When I say unto the wicked, Wicked [man], thou shalt certainly die; and thou speakest not to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

9 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.

But if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 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?’

And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how then should we live?

11 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?

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 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.

And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth.

13 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.

When I say to the righteous that he shall certainly live, and he trusteth to his righteousness and doeth what is wrong, none of his righteous acts shall be remembered; but in his unrighteousness which he hath done, in it shall he die.

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

And when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die, and he turneth from his sin, and doeth judgment and justice;

15 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.

if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, doing nothing that is wrong; he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

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

None of his sins which he hath committed shall be remembered against him: he hath done judgment and justice; he shall certainly live.

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

Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

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

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and doeth what is wrong, then he shall die therein.

19 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.

And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall live for these things.

20 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.”

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

21 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!”

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth [month], on the fifth of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten!

22 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.

Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before he that had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth against his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

23 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

24 “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.’

Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited this land, and we are many: the land is given us for a possession.

25 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?

Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land?

26 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?

Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife; and shall ye possess the land?

27 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.

Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: [As] I live, verily they that are in the waste places 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 are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

28 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.

And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolated, so that none shall pass through.

29 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.

And they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 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!’

And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people keep talking of thee 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 cometh forth from Jehovah.

31 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.

And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not; for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their dishonest gain.

32 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.

And behold, thou art unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not.

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

And when this cometh to pass (behold, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.