Ezekiel 33

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and you have said to them: When I bring a sword on a land, And the people of the land have taken one man out of their borders, And made him their watchman,

Son of man, give a word to the children of your people, and say to them, When I make the sword come on a land, if the people of the land take a man from among their number and make him their watchman:

3 And he has seen the sword coming against the land, And has blown with a horn, and has warned the people,

If, when he sees the sword coming on the land, by sounding the horn he gives the people news of their danger;

4 And the hearer has heard the voice of the horn, and he has not taken warning, And the sword comes in, and takes him away, His blood is on his [own] head.

Then anyone who, hearing the sound of the horn, does not take note of it, will himself be responsible for his death, if the sword comes and takes him away.

5 The voice of the horn he heard, And he has not taken warning, his blood is on him, And he who took warning has delivered his soul.

On hearing the sound of the horn, he did not take note; his blood will be on him; for if he had taken note his life would have been safe.

6 And the watchman, when he sees the sword coming in, And he has not blown with a horn, And the people have not been warned, And a sword comes in, And takes away a soul from them, He is taken away in his iniquity, And I require his blood from the hand of the watchman.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood.

7 And you, son of man, I gave you [as] a watchman for the house of Israel, And you have heard a word from My mouth, And you have warned them from Me.

So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel; and you are to give ear to the word of my mouth and give them news from me of their danger.

8 In My saying to the wicked, O wicked one—you surely die, And you have not spoken to warn the wicked from his way, He—the wicked—dies in his iniquity, And I require his blood from your hand.

When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.

9 And you, when you have warned the wicked of his way, to turn back from it, And he has not turned back from his way, He dies in his iniquity, And you have delivered your soul.

But if you make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way for the purpose of turning him from it, and he is not turned from his way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, but your life will be safe.

10 And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken correctly, saying, Surely our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, And we are wasting away in them, How, then, do we live?

And you, son of man, say to the children of Israel, You say, Our wrongdoing and our sins are on us and we are wasting away in them; how then may we have life?

11 Say to them, [As] I live—a declaration of Lord YHWH, I do not delight in the death of the wicked, But in the turning of the wicked from his way, and he has lived. Turn back, turn back, from your evil ways! Indeed, why do you die, O house of Israel?

Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the evil-doer; it is more pleasing to me if he is turned from his way and has life: be turned, be turned from your evil ways; why are you looking for death, O children of Israel?

12 And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous does not deliver him in the day of his transgression, And the wickedness of the wicked, He does not stumble for it in the day of his turning from his wickedness, And the righteous is not able to live in it in the day of his sinning.

And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the upright man will not make him safe in the day when he does wrong; and the evil-doing of the evil man will not be the cause of his fall in the day when he is turned from his evil-doing; and the upright man will not have life because of his righteousness in the day when he does evil.

13 In My saying of the righteous: He surely lives, And—he has trusted on his righteousness, And he has done perversity, All his righteous acts are not remembered, And for his perversity that he has done, He dies for it.

When I say to the upright that life will certainly be his; if he puts his faith in his righteousness and does evil, not one of his upright acts will be kept in memory; but in the evil he has done, death will overtake him.

14 And in My saying to the wicked: You surely die, And—he has turned back from his sin, And has done judgment and righteousness,

And when I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; if he is turned from his sin and does what is ordered and right;

15 (The wicked restores a pledge, he repays [for] plunder), He has walked in the statutes of life, So as not to do perversity, He surely lives—he does not die.

If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him.

16 All his sin—his sins that he has sinned—are not remembered against him, He has done judgment and righteousness, He surely lives.

Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in mind against him: he has done what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his.

17 And the sons of your people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, As for them—their way is not pondered.

But the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: when it is they whose way is not equal.

18 In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he has done perversity—he dies for it.

When the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, death will overtake him in it.

19 And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, And he has done judgment and righteousness—he lives by them.

And when the evil man, turning away from his evil-doing, does what is ordered and right, he will get life by it.

20 And you have said, The way of the Lord is not pondered; I judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”

And still you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, I will be your judge, giving to everyone the reward of his ways.

21 And it comes to pass, in the twelfth year—in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month—of our removal, one who is escaped from Jerusalem comes to me, saying, “The city has been struck.”

Now in the twelfth year after we had been taken away prisoners, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had got away in flight from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The town has been taken.

22 And the hand of YHWH has been to me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He opens my mouth until [his] coming to me in the morning, and my mouth is opened, and I have not been silent again.

Now the hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before the man who had got away came to me; and he made my mouth open, ready for his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no longer without voice.

23 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

24 “Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying, Abraham has been alone—and he possesses the land, and we [are] many—the land has been given to us for a possession.

Son of man, those who are living in these waste places in the land of Israel say, Abraham was but one, and he had land for his heritage: but we are a great number; the land is given to us for our heritage.

25 Therefore say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: You eat with the blood, And you lift up your eyes to your idols, And you shed blood, Should you then inherit the land?

For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?

26 You have stood on your sword, You have done abomination, You have each defiled the wife of his neighbor, Should you then possess the land?

You put your faith in your swords, you do disgusting things, everyone takes his neighbour's wife: are you to have the land for your heritage?

27 Thus you say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: [As] I live—do they who [are] in the ruins not fall by the sword? And they who [are] on the face of the field, I have given for food to the beast, And they who are in strongholds and in caves die by pestilence.

This is what you are to say to them: The Lord has said, By my life, truly, those who are in the waste places will be put to the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts for their food, and those who are in the strong places and in holes in the rocks will come to their death by disease.

28 And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, And the excellence of its strength has ceased, And mountains of Israel have been desolated, Without anyone passing through.

And I will make the land a waste and a cause of wonder, and the pride of her strength will come to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be made waste so that no one will go through.

29 And they have known that I [am] YHWH, In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, For all their abominations that they have done.

Then they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a waste and a cause of wonder, because of all the disgusting things which they have done,

30 And you, son of man, The sons of your people who are speaking about you, By the walls, and in openings of the houses, Have spoken with one another, each with his brother, Saying, Please come in, And hear what the word [is] that comes out from YHWH.

And as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking together about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, saying to one another, Come now, give ear to the word which comes from the Lord.

31 And they come in to you as the coming in of a people, And they sit before you—My people, And have heard your words, and they do not do them, For they are making unhealthy loves with their mouth, Their heart is going after their dishonest gain.

And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.

32 And behold, you [are] as a singer of unhealthy loves to them, A beautiful voice, and playing well on an instrument, And they have heard your words, and they are not doing them.

And truly you are to them like a love song by one who has a very pleasing voice and is an expert player on an instrument: for they give ear to your words but do them not.

33 And in its coming in—behold, it has come, And they have known that a prophet has been in their midst!”

And when this comes about (see, it is coming), then it will be clear to them that a prophet has been among them.