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, 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 has seen the sword coming against the land, And has blown with a horn, and has warned 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 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, 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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: 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?

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, [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: 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 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 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 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.

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

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 (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.

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

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

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

For when the just man will have withdrawn from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by these.

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 impious man will have withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and justice, he shall live by these.

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 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 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.”

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 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.

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 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, 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.’

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?

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?

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 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 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.

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

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

And when what has been predicted occurs, for behold it is approaching, then they shall know that a prophet was among them.”