Ezekiel 33
1 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:
A message from 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, tell your people: If I brought an army to attack a country, the people there would choose one of them to be their watchman.
3 And he shall see the sword coming upon the land, —and shall blow with the horn and warn the people
When he saw the army advancing to attack the country, he would blow the trumpet to warn everyone.
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: —
So if you hear the trumpet but don't pay attention to the warning, and you're killed in the attack, you will be responsible for your own death.
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.
Since you heard the trumpet but didn't pay attention to the warning, then you will be responsible for your own death. If you had paid attention the warning, you could have saved your 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.
But if the watchman saw the attack coming and didn't blow the trumpet to warn everyone, and someone is killed, then that person will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their death.
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.
Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I tell you and warn them for 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.
If I tell the wicked ‘You're wicked; you're going to die’; but you don't warn them to change what they're doing, then they'll die in their sins and I will hold your responsible for their deaths.
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 warn the wicked to change what they're doing, and they don't, they will die in their sins, but you will save your own life.
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?
Son of man, tell the people of Israel that this is what they've been saying, ‘We recognize our sins and wrongs, and they weigh on us, wearing us out. How can we go on living?’
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?
Tell them: As I live, declares the Lord God, it brings me no pleasure when wicked people die. I wish they would stop sinning and live! Stop! Stop sinning! Why should you die, people 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.
So, son of man, tell your people: All the good things a good person has done won't save them when they sin; while the bad things a bad person has done won't be a problem for them if they stop sinning. But good people won't live if they start sinning.
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.
If I tell a good person that they will live and then they rely on their goodness and start sinning, then none of the good things they did will be remembered; he will die because of the sins.
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:
But if I tell a bad person, ‘You're going to die’ and they stop sinning and do what is good 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 they return security given for a loan, pay back what they've stolen, and follows my laws about how to live, not doing wrong—then they will live; they won't 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 their sins will be remembered; they have done what is good and right and so they will 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!
However, your people are complaining, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ But it's what they're doing that isn't right.
18 When the righteous man shall turn from his righteousness and commit perversity Then shall he die for them;
If a good person stops doing good and sins, they will die because of it.
19 But when the lawless man shall turn from his lawlessness, and do justice and righteousness Upon them, shall he live.
On the other hand, if a bad person turns from their sins and they do what is good and right, they will live as a result.
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?
So how can you say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right’? Well, I'm going to judge each of you depending on what you've done, people 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!
On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our exile, a refugee who'd escaped from Jerusalem arrived and told me, “The city has been captured!”
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.
The previous evening before the messenger arrived the Lord had touched me so I could speak again. This was before the man came to see me in the morning. I wasn't mute any longer—I could speak again.
23 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:
A message from 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, people living among the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, but the country was given to him to own. There's plenty of us, so the country should belong to us.’
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?
So tell them that this is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with the blood still in it. You go and worship your idols. You commit murder. Do you really think the country should belong to you?
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 rely on your swords to get your way. You have done some disgusting things. You're all having sex with each other's wives. Should the country belong to you?
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;
Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: As I live, in the people living among the ruins will be killed by the sword. Those living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals. Those living in the fortresses and caves will die from 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.
I will turn the country into a wasteland, and power you are so proud of will be ended. The mountains of Israel will become wild places that no one will want to travel 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 the people will acknowledge that I am the Lord, when I have turned the country into a wasteland because of all the disgusting things 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;
Son of man, your people are talking about you out in the streets and in the doorways of their houses. They encourage one another, saying, ‘Come on! Let's go and hear a message 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.
So my people come and visit you like they usually do. They sit and listen to the message you share, but they don't do anything about it. Even though they talk about love, all they're thinking about is how to cheat others.
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.
In fact, to them you're just someone who sings love songs with a lovely voice and who is a fine musician. They listen to the message you share, but they don't do anything about it.
33 But when it cometh Lo! it is coming, Then shall they know that a prophet hath been in their midst.
So when what you say does happen (and it will), then they will realize that they did have a prophet among them.”
