Ezekiel 33

1 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

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

2 Son of man Speak unto the sons of thy people and thou shalt say unto them, A land—when I bring upon it a sword, And the people of the land shall take one man out of their whole number, and appoint him for them, as 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 shall see the sword coming upon the land, —and shall blow with the horn and warn 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 Then as for him who really heard the sound of the horn and took not warning, The sword indeed hath come and taken him away, — His blood, upon his own head shall remain: —

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 sound of the horn, he heard, but took not warning, His blood, upon himself shall remain, — Whereas had he taken warning, his own soul, he should have delivered.

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 But as for the watchman-When he seeth the sword coming. And hath not blown with the horn. And the people, have not been warned, And the sword, hath come and taken away from among them any person he, for his iniquity, hath been taken away, But his blood at the hand of the watchman will I require.

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 Thou therefore Son of man, A watchman, have I appointed thee, to the house of Israel, So then thou shalt hear at my mouth a message, and shalt warn 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 When I say to the lawless man O lawless man thou shalt surely die, And thou have not spoken to warn the lawless man from his way He the lawless man for his iniquity shall die, But his blood- at thy hand- will I demand.

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 But as for thyself When thou hast warned a lawless man from his way, to turn therefrom, And he hath not turned from his way He, for his own iniquity shall die, But thou hast delivered thine own life,

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 Thou, therefore, Son of man, Say unto the house of Israel, Thus, have ye spoken saying: When our transgressions and our sins are upon us, —and for them, we are melting away How then can 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 unto them, As I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely, I can take no pleasure in the death of the lawless man, But that the lawless man turn from his way, and live, - Turn ye, turn ye, from your wicked ways, For wherefore should ye 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 Thou, therefore, Son of man Say unto the sons of thy people— The righteousness of the righteous man, shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, And as for the lawlessness of the lawless man, He shall not stumble thereby, in the day of his return from his lawlessness, - Nor shall the righteous man be able to live thereby, in the day of his sin.

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 When I say of the righteous man He shall surely live but he hath trusted in his righteousness and committed perversity None of his righteous deeds shall be mentioned, But by his perversity which he hath committed—thereby, shall he die.

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 when I say to the lawless man Thou shalt surely die, but he shall turn from his sin, and do justice 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 debt-pledge, the lawless man shall restore Plunder, shall pay back, In the statutes of life, hath walked, so as not to commit perversity. He shall surely live he shall 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 None of his sins which he hath committed shall be called to mind against him, — Justice and righteousness, hath he done He shall surely live.

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 can the sons of thy people say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Nay! but as for them, their way will not be equal!

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 When the righteous man shall turn from his righteousness and commit perversity Then shall he die for them;

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

19 But when the lawless man shall turn from his lawlessness, and do justice and righteousness Upon them, shall he live.

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 can ye then say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Every man—according to his own ways so will I judge you 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 came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month on the fifth of the month of our exile, that there came unto me one that had escaped out of Jerusalem saying. Smitten is the city!

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 Now the hand of Yahweh, had come unto me in the evening, before the coming of him who had escaped, and he had opened my mouth, by the time that he came to me in the morning, —so my mouth, was opened, and I was dumb no longer.

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 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:

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

24 Son of man These inhabitants of waste places on the soil of Israel are saying thus, One, was Abraham. Yet he inherited the land, - But, we, are many, To us, is the land given as an inheritance.

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 Wherefore say unto them Thus, saith My Lord. Yahweh. -With the blood, ye do eat. And your eyes, ye do lift up unto your manufactured gods. And blood, ye do shed; And the land, shall ye inherit?

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 Ye men have taken your stand by your sword. Ye women have wrought abomination, And every man—with the wife of his neighbour, have ye defiled yourselves; And the land, shall ye inherit?

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 shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, As I live, surely, they who are in the waste places by the sword, shall fall, And him who is on the face of the field to the wild beast, have I given to be devoured, - And they who are in the mountain holds and in the pits: by pestilence, shall die;

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 will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, So shall be made to cease the pride of her strength, - And the mountains of Israel shall be too desolate for any to pass 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 So shall they know that I, am Yahweh, — When I make the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

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 Thou therefore Son of man, the sons of thy people who are talking against thee Near the walls and in the entrances of the houses, are speaking one with another, every man with his brother saying. Come in we pray you and heat, what is the word that is coming forth from Yahweh;

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 That they may come unto thee as people do come And may sit before thee as my people, And they will hear thy words, But, the words themselves, will they not do, — though fond with their mouths, they seem to be, After their unjust gain, their heart is going.

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 lo! thou art to them— As a bewitching song, Of one with a beautiful voice. And skilfully touching the strings, —So will they hear thy words, And yet be going to do none of 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 But when it cometh Lo! it is coming, Then shall they know that a prophet hath 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.