Ezekiel 33

1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for 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 he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn 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 whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and takes not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own 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 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.

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

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 you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word at my mouth, and warn 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 say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your 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 Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

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 you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus all of you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

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 unto 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 all of you, turn all of you from your evil ways; for why will all of you die, O 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, you son of man, say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.

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 to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

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 Again, when I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful 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 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall 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 sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

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

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

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

18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even 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 turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live 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 all of you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O all of you house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

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

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 one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city 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 was upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

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 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,

24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

“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 unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; All of you eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall all of you possess 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 All of you stand upon your sword, all of you work abomination, and all of you defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall all of you possess 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 you thus unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes 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 be in the forts and in the caves 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 most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass 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 have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have 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, you son of man, the children of your people still are talking against you 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 comes forth 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 And they come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

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, lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your words, but they do 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 comes to pass, (lo, it will come, ) then shall they know that a prophet has been 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].”