Ezekiel 33

1 Again, the woorde of the Lord came vnto me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2 Sonne of man, speake to the children of thy people, and say vnto them, When I bring the sworde vpon a lande, if the people of the lande take a man from among them, and make him their watchman,

“You human, speak to your fellow Israelis and say this to them: ‘When I bring an enemy army [MTY] to attack a country, and the people of that country choose one of their men and appoint him to be a watchman,

3 If when hee seeth the sworde come vpon ye land, he blow the trumpet, and warne the people,

if he sees the enemy army [MTY] coming to attack his country, and he blows a trumpet to warn the people,

4 Then hee that heareth the sounde of the trumpet, and will not bee warned, if the sworde come, and take him away, his blood shall be vpon his owne head.

if anyone hears the trumpet and does not heed the warning, and as a result he is killed by the sword [of one of his enemies], he will be responsible for his own death [MTY].

5 For he heard the sound of the trumpet, and woulde not bee admonished: therefore his blood shall be vpon him: but he that receiueth warning, shall saue his life.

If he had heeded the warning, he would have (have saved his life/still be alive). But because he heard the sound of the trumpet and did not heed that warning, his death will be his own fault.

6 But if the watchman see the sworde come, and blowe not the trumpet, and the people be not warned: if the sworde come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away for his iniquitie, but his blood will I require at the watchmans hande.

But if the watchman sees the enemy army [MTY] coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and one of his people is killed by an enemy sword, that person will die because of his sin, but I will consider that the watchman is responsible for that man’s death.’

7 So thou, O sonne of man, I haue made thee a watchman vnto the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt heare the woorde at my mouth, and admonish them from me.

So, you human, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the Israeli people [MTY]. So always listen to what I say and warn the people for me.

8 When I shall say vnto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt die the death, if thou doest not speake, and admonish the wicked of his way, that wicked man shall die for his iniquitie, but his blood will I require at thine hand.

When I say to some wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die [because of your sins,’ you must tell him that]. If you do not speak to that person to warn him that he should turn away from his sins, that wicked person will die because of his sins, but I will say that you are responsible for his death [MTY].

9 Neuerthelesse, If thou warne the wicked of his way, to turne from it, if he doe not turne from his way, he shall die for his iniquitie, but thou hast deliuered thy soule.

But if you warn that wicked person that he should turn away from his sins, and he does not do that, he will die because of his sins, but you will have saved your life.

10 Therefore, O thou sonne of man, speake vnto the house of Israel, Thus yee speake and say, If our transgressions and our sinnes bee vpon vs, and we are consumed because of them, howe should we then liue?

You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what you all are saying: “[The guilt that we have for] disobeying God’s laws and sinning is like a heavy weight on us, and it is hurting us, and we are slowly dying. So what can we do to continue to remain alive?”’

11 Say vnto them, As I liue, sayeth the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turne from his way and liue: turne you, turne you from your euill waies, for why will ye die, O ye house of Israel?

Say to them, ‘Yahweh the Lord says, “As surely as I am alive, I am not happy when wicked people die; I would prefer that they turn away from their wicked behavior and continue to live. So repent! Turn away from your evil behavior! You Israeli people, do you really want to die [RHQ]?”’

12 Therefore thou sonne of man, saye vnto the children of thy people, The righteousnesse of the righteous shall not deliuer him in the day of his transgression, nor the wickednesse of the wicked shall cause him to fall therein, in the day that he returneth from his wickednesse, neither shall the righteous liue for his righteousnesse in the day that he sinneth.

Therefore, you human, say to your fellow Israelis, ‘If righteous people start to disobey me, their being righteous previously will not save them [from being punished]. And if wicked people turn away from their wicked behavior, they will not die because of the sins that they committed [previously]. And if righteous people start to sin, they will not be allowed to remain alive because of their formerly being righteous.’

13 When I shall say vnto the righteous, that he shall surely liue, if he trust to his owne righteousnes, and commit iniquitie, all his righteousnes shall be no more remembred, but for his iniquitie that he hath committed, he shall die for the same.

If I tell righteous people that they will surely remain alive, but then they trust/think that because they have been righteous previously, they can start to do evil [and not be punished], I will not think about the righteous things that they did previously; they will die because of the evil things that they are doing.

14 Againe when I shall say vnto the wicked, thou shalt die the death, if he turne from his sinne, and doe that which is lawfull and right,

And if I say to some wicked person, ‘You will surely die [because of your sins],’ that person may turn away from his sinful behavior and do what is just and right [DOU].

15 To wit, if the wicked restore the pledge, and giue againe that he had robbed, and walke in the statutes of life, without committing iniquitie, he shall surely liue, and not die.

For example, he may return what he took from another person to guarantee [that that person would pay back what he owes], or he may return things that he has stolen, and he may obey the laws that will enable [those who obey them] to remain alive, and he will not continue to do evil things. If that happens, he will surely remain alive; he will not die [because of the sins that he committed previously].

16 None of his sinnes that he hath comitted, shall be mentioned vnto him: because he hath done that, which is lawful, and right, he shall surely liue.

I will not think about the sins that he has committed; he will surely remain alive.

17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equall: but their owne way is vnequall.

Your fellow Israelis say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But it is your behavior that is not fair.

18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousnesse, and committeth iniquitie, he shall euen die thereby.

If a righteous person turns away from doing what is righteous and starts to do what is evil, [it is fair that] he die because of his sins.

19 But if the wicked returne from his wickednesse, and doe that which is lawfull and right, hee shall liue thereby.

And if a wicked person turns away from his wicked behavior and does what is right and fair [DOU], [it is fair] for him to remain alive because of doing that.

20 Yet yee say, The way of the Lord is not equall. O ye house of Israel, I will iudge you euery one after his waies.

But you Israeli people still say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But I will judge each of you for what you do.”

21 Also in the twelfth yere of our captiuitie, in the tenth moneth, and in the fift day of the moneth, one that had escaped out of Ierusalem, came vnto me, and said, The citie is smitten.

Almost twelve years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the fifth day of the tenth month [of that year], a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me [in Babylon] and said, “Jerusalem has been captured!”

22 Now the hand of the Lord had bene vpon me in ye euening afore hee that had escaped, came, and had opened my mouth vntill he came to me in the morning: and when hee had opened my mouth, I was no more dumme.

The evening before that man arrived, Yahweh took control [MTY] of me, and when that man arrived, Yahweh enabled me to speak again; I was no longer forced to be silent.

23 Againe the worde of the Lord came vnto me, and saide,

Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,

24 Sonne of man, these that dwel in the desolate places of the land of Israel, talke and say, Abraham was but one, and hee possessed the lande: but we are many, therefore the lande shall be giuen vs in possession.

“You human, the people who are living in the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, but Yahweh [promised him that he and his descendants] would possess this land. But we are many; so surely this land has been given to us [by Yahweh] to continue to possess.’

25 Wherefore say vnto them, Thus saieth the Lord God, Ye eate with the blood, and lift vp your eyes towarde your idoles, and sheade blood: should ye then possesse the land?

So send a message to them. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You eat meat that still has the animal’s blood in it. You still worship idols. And you still murder others [MTY]. So, (should this land belong to you?/this land should certainly not belong to you!) [RHQ]

26 Ye leane vpon your swordes: ye worke abomination, and yee defile euery one his neighbours wife: should ye then possesse the land?

You rely on using your swords [to obtain things that you want]. You do many detestable things. Each of you has sex with other men’s wives. So (why should you continue to possess the land of Israel?/you should not continue to possess this land!) [RHQ]’

27 Say thus vnto them, Thus saieth the Lord God, As I liue, so surely they that are in the desolate places, shall fall by the sword: and him that is in the open field, will I giue vnto the beasts to be deuoured: and they that be in the forts and in the caues, shall die of the pestilence.

Send this message to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: As surely as I am alive, those who are left in the ruins [in Jerusalem] will also be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and those who are living in the countryside will be killed by wild animals, and those who are living in forts and caves will die from a plague.

28 For I will lay the land desolate and waste, and the pompe of her strength shall cease: and the moutaines of Israel shalbe desolate, and none shall passe through.

I will cause your country to become a desolate wasteland. You will no longer be proud of being a strong country. The mountains of Israel will become very desolate, with the result that no one will walk across them.

29 Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I haue laid ye land desolate and wast, because of al their abominations, that they haue committed.

Then, when I have caused your country to become a desolate wasteland because of all the detestable things that you have done, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’

30 Also thou sonne of man, the children of thy people that talke of thee by the wals and in the dores of houses, and speake one to another, euery one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and heare what is the word that commeth from the Lord.

As for you, you human, your fellow Israelis [here in Babylon] are talking about you along the city walls and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, ‘Come and listen to the message that has come from Yahweh!’

31 For they come vnto thee, as the people vseth to come: and my people sit before thee, and heare thy wordes, but they will not doe them: for with their mouthes they make iestes, and their heart goeth after their couetousnesse.

My people come to you as they often have done, and they sit in front of you to listen to what you say. But they do not do what you tell them that they must do. With their mouths they say that they love me, but in their inner beings they are eager to acquire things by doing what is unjust.

32 And loe, thou art vnto them, as a iesting song of one that hath a pleasant voyce, and can sing well: for they heare thy woordes, but they doe them not.

To them, you are only a man who sings love songs with a beautiful voice, and you play a musical instrument well. They hear what you say, but they do not do what you tell them to do.

33 And when this commeth to passe (for loe, it will come) then shall they know, that a Prophet hath bene among them.

The terrible things that I have said will happen to them will surely happen. And then they will know that a prophet has been among them, [and that you are that prophet].”