Jezekiel 33
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and you shall say to them, On whatever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man of them, and set him for their watchman:
“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and you shall say to them: Concerning the land, when I will have led the sword over it: if the people of the land take a man, one of their least, and appoint him over themselves as a watchman,
3 and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people;
and if he sees the sword approaching over the land, and he sounds the trumpet, and he announces to the people,
4 and he that hears the sound of the trumpet shall hear [indeed], and [yet] not take heed, and the sword shall come upon him, and overtake him, his blood shall be upon his [own] head.
then, having heard the sound of the trumpet, whoever he is, if he also does not take care of himself, and the sword arrives and takes him: his blood will be upon his own head.
5 Because he heard the sound of the trumpet, and took no heed, his blood shall be upon him: but the other, because he took heed, has delivered his soul.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and he did not take care of himself, so his blood will be upon him. But if he guards himself, he will save his own life.
6 But if the watchman see the sword coming, and do not sound the trumpet, and the people do not watch; and the sword come, and take a soul from among them, that [soul] is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood [thereof] will I require at the watchman's hand.
And if the watchman sees the sword approaching, and he does not sound the trumpet, and so the people do not guard themselves, and the sword arrives and takes some of their lives, certainly these have been taken due to their own iniquity. But I will attribute their blood to the hand of the watchman.
7 And you, son of man, I have set you [as] a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth.
And as for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore, having heard the word from my mouth, you shall announce it to them from me.
8 When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die; [if] you speak not to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
When I say to the impious, ‘O impious man, you will die a death,’ if you have not spoken so that the impious man will keep himself from his way, then that impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his blood to your hand.
9 But if you forewarn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but you have delivered your own soul.
But if you have announced to the impious man, so that he may be converted from his ways, and he has not converted from his way, then he will die in his iniquity. Yet you will have freed your own soul.
10 And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel; Thus have you spoken, saying, Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live?
You, therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken in this way, saying: ‘Our iniquities and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them. So then, how would we be able to live?’
11 Say to them, Thus says the Lord; [As] I live, I desire not the death of the ungodly, as that the ungodly should turn from his way and live: turn you heartily from your way; for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I do not desire the death of the impious, but that the impious should convert from his way and live. Be converted, be converted from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?
12 Say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him, in the day wherein he errs: and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not harm him, in the day wherein he turns from his iniquity, but the righteous [erring] shall not be able to deliver himself.
And as for you then, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The justice of the just man will not deliver him, on whatever day he will have sinned. And the impiety of the impious man will not harm him, on whatever day he will have been converted from his impiety. And the just man will not be able to live by his justice, on whatever day he will have sinned.
13 When I say to the righteous, [You shall live; and] he trusts in his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity, none of his righteousnesses shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has wrought, in it shall he die.
Even now, if I say to the just man that he shall certainly live, and so, with confidence in his justice, he commits iniquity, all his justices will be delivered into oblivion, and by his iniquity, which he has done, by this he shall die.
14 And when I say to the ungodly, You shall surely die; and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgment and justice,
And if I say to the impious man, ‘You shall certainly die,’ and yet he repents from his sin, and he does judgment and justice,
15 and return the pledge, and repay that which he has robbed, [and] walk in the ordinances of life, so as to do no wrong; he shall surely live, and shall not die.
and if that impious man returns the collateral, and repays what he has taken by force, and if he walks in the commandments of life, and does not do anything unjust, then he shall certainly live, and he shall not die.
16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered: because he has wrought judgment and righteousness; by them shall he live.
None of his sins, which he has committed, will be imputed to him. He has done judgment and justice, so he shall certainly live.
17 Yet the children of your people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight: whereas this their way is not straight.
And the sons of your people have said, ‘The way of the Lord is not a fair balance,’ even while their own way is unjust.
18 When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them.
For when the just man will have withdrawn from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by these.
19 And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgment and righteousness, he shall live by them.
And when the impious man will have withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and justice, he shall live by these.
20 And this is that which you said, The way of the Lord is [not] straight. I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one for his ways.
And yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But I shall judge each one of you according to his own ways, O house of Israel.”
21 And it came to pass in the tenth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is taken.
And it happened that, in the twelfth year of our transmigration, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, one who had fled from Jerusalem arrived saying, “The city has been laid waste.”
22 Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and he opened my mouth, when he came to me in the morning: and my mouth was open, it was no longer kept closed.
But the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the one who had fled arrived. And he opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning. And since my mouth had been opened, I was no longer silent.
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 Son of man, they that inhabit the desolate [places] on the land of Israel say, Abram was one, and he possessed the land: and we are more numerous; to us the land is given for a possession.
“Son of man, as for those who live in these ruinous ways on the soil of Israel, when speaking, they say: ‘Abraham was one man, and he possessed the land as an inheritance. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’
Therefore, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: You who eat even the blood, and who lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and who shed blood: will you possess the land as an inheritance?
You stood by your swords, you committed abominations, and each one has defiled his neighbor’s wife. And will you possess the land as an inheritance?
27 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God, [As] I live, surely they that are in the desolate places shall fall by swords and they that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and them that are in the fortified [cities] and them that are in the caves I will kill with pestilence.
You shall say these things to them: So says the Lord God: As I live, those who live in ruinous ways will fall by the sword. And whoever is in the field will be delivered over to wild beasts to be devoured. But those who are in fortresses and in caves will die of the pestilence.
28 And I will make the land desert, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate by reason of no man passing through.
And I will make the land into a wilderness and a desert. And its arrogant strength will fail. And the mountains of Israel will be desolate; for there will be no one who crosses through them.
29 And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desert, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have wrought.
And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have made their land desolate and deserted, because of all their abominations, which they have worked.
30 And [as for] you, son of man, the children of your people are they that speak concerning you by the walls, and in the porches of the houses, and they talk one to another, saying, Let us come together, and let us hear the [words] that proceed from the Lord.
And as for you, O son of man: the sons of your people speak about you beside the walls and in the doorways of houses. And they speak to one another, each man to his neighbor, saying: ‘Come, and let us hear what may be the word going forth from the Lord.’
31 They approach you as a people comes together, and sit before you, and hear your words, but they will not do them: for [there is] falsehood in their mouth, and their heart [goes] after their pollutions.
And they come to you, as if the people were entering, and my people sit before you. And they listen to your words, but they do not do them. For they turn them into a song for their mouth, but their heart pursues their own avarice.
32 And you are to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned lute, and they will hear your words, but they will not do them.
And you are to them like a verse set to music, which is sung with a sweet and pleasing voice. And they hear your words, but they do not do them.
33 But whenever it shall come [to pass], they will say, Behold, it is come: and they shall know that there was a prophet in the midst of them.
And when what has been predicted occurs, for behold it is approaching, then they shall know that a prophet was among them.”
