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, 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 shall blow with the horn and warn the people

and if he sees the sword approaching over the land, and he sounds the trumpet, and he announces to the people,

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, 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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?

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 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: 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 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 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 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.

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 lawless man Thou shalt surely die, but he shall turn from his sin, and do justice 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 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: —

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 hath committed shall be called to mind against him, — Justice and righteousness, hath he done He shall surely 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 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!

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

For when the just man will have withdrawn from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by these.

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

And when the impious man will have withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and justice, he shall live by these.

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 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 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!

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 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.

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 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, 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 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?

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 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 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 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;

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 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 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 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.

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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 when it cometh Lo! it is coming, Then shall they know that a prophet hath 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.”