Ezekiel 33
1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord 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, 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 When he saw the army advancing to attack the country, he would blow the trumpet to warn everyone.
And if he see the sword coming over the land, and blow the cornet, 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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, 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 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.
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 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?’
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 But if I tell a bad person, ‘You're going to die’ and they stop sinning and do what is good 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 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, 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 None of their sins will be remembered; they have done what is good and right and so they will live.
All his sins that he hath committed shall not be remembered unto him: justice and righteousness hath he executed, he shall surely 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 say the children of thy people, The way of the Lord is not equitable: while, as to them, their way is not equitable.
18 If a good person stops doing good and sins, they will die because of it.
When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and doth what is wrong, he shall even die therefore.
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 returneth from his wickedness, and executeth justice and righteousness, he shall surely live therefore.
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 equitable. Every one after his own ways will I judge you, O house of Israel.
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, 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 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 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 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord 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 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 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 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 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 depend upon your sword, ye commit abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife: and ye expect to 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.
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 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 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 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 experience that I am the Lord, when I render the land desolate and wasted, 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 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 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 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 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, 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 So when what you say does happen (and it will), then they will realize that they did have a prophet among them.”
But when it cometh to pass, [lo, it will come, ] then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
