Ezekiel 33

1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

Again the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

2 “You human, speak to your fellow Israelis and say this to them: ‘When I bring an enemy army [MTY] to attack a country, and the people of that country choose one of their men and appoint him to be a watchman,

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man out of their whole number, and set him for their watchman,

3 if he sees the enemy army [MTY] coming to attack his country, and he blows a trumpet to warn the people,

and he seeth the sword coming on the land, and bloweth the trumpet, and warneth the people,

4 if anyone hears the trumpet and does not heed the warning, and as a result he is killed by the sword [of one of his enemies], he will be responsible for his own death [MTY].

then whoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, and the sword cometh and taketh him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 If he had heeded the warning, he would have (have saved his life/still be alive). But because he heard the sound of the trumpet and did not heed that warning, his death will be his own fault.

He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning. His blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall save his life.

6 But if the watchman sees the enemy army [MTY] coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and one of his people is killed by an enemy sword, that person will die because of his sin, but I will consider that the watchman is responsible for that man’s death.’

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come and take away any person from among them, he is taken away for his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 So, you human, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the Israeli people [MTY]. So always listen to what I say and warn the people for me.

So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman to the house of Israel, that thou shouldst hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 When I say to some wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die [because of your sins,’ you must tell him that]. If you do not speak to that person to warn him that he should turn away from his sins, that wicked person will die because of his sins, but I will say that you are responsible for his death [MTY].

When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, thou shalt surely die!” and thou speakest not to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die for his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.

9 But if you warn that wicked person that he should turn away from his sins, and he does not do that, he will die because of his sins, but you will have saved your life.

Yet if thou warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it, and he turneth not from his way, he shall die for his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thyself.

10 You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what you all are saying: “[The guilt that we have for] disobeying God’s laws and sinning is like a heavy weight on us, and it is hurting us, and we are slowly dying. So what can we do to continue to remain alive?”’

Thou, therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Rightly do ye say, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them we pine away. How then can we live?”

11 Say to them, ‘Yahweh the Lord says, “As surely as I am alive, I am not happy when wicked people die; I would prefer that they turn away from their wicked behavior and continue to live. So repent! Turn away from your evil behavior! You Israeli people, do you really want to die [RHQ]?”’

Say to them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways! for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 Therefore, you human, say to your fellow Israelis, ‘If righteous people start to disobey me, their being righteous previously will not save them [from being punished]. And if wicked people turn away from their wicked behavior, they will not die because of the sins that they committed [previously]. And if righteous people start to sin, they will not be allowed to remain alive because of their formerly being righteous.’

Thou also, son of man, say to the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and through his wickedness shall not the wicked man fall in the day when he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live in the day when he sinneth.

13 If I tell righteous people that they will surely remain alive, but then they trust/think that because they have been righteous previously, they can start to do evil [and not be punished], I will not think about the righteous things that they did previously; they will die because of the evil things that they are doing.

When I say concerning the righteous, “He shall surely live,” and he trusteth in his righteousness, and doeth iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered, but for his iniquity which he hath committed shall he die.

14 And if I say to some wicked person, ‘You will surely die [because of your sins],’ that person may turn away from his sinful behavior and do what is just and right [DOU].

Again, when I say concerning the wicked, “He shall surely die,” and he turneth from his sin, and doeth that which is just and right,

15 For example, he may return what he took from another person to guarantee [that that person would pay back what he owes], or he may return things that he has stolen, and he may obey the laws that will enable [those who obey them] to remain alive, and he will not continue to do evil things. If that happens, he will surely remain alive; he will not die [because of the sins that he committed previously].

and the wicked restoreth the pledge, giveth back that which he hath taken by violence, and walketh in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16 I will not think about the sins that he has committed; he will surely remain alive.

None of his sins which he hath committed shall be mentioned to him; he hath done that which is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 Your fellow Israelis say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But it is your behavior that is not fair.

And yet the sons of thy people say, “The way of the Lord is not right!” But it is their way which is not right.

18 If a righteous person turns away from doing what is righteous and starts to do what is evil, [it is fair that] he die because of his sins.

When the righteous man turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he dieth because of it.

19 And if a wicked person turns away from his wicked behavior and does what is right and fair [DOU], [it is fair] for him to remain alive because of doing that.

And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is just and right, he shall live thereby.

20 But you Israeli people still say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But I will judge each of you for what you do.”

And yet ye say, “The way of the Lord is not right!” O house of Israel, I will judge you every one according to his ways!

21 Almost twelve years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the fifth day of the tenth month [of that year], a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me [in Babylon] and said, “Jerusalem has been captured!”

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city is smitten!”

22 The evening before that man arrived, Yahweh took control [MTY] of me, and when that man arrived, Yahweh enabled me to speak again; I was no longer forced to be silent.

Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening before he that had escaped came; and he opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; he opened my mouth, so that I was no longer dumb.

23 Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

24 “You human, the people who are living in the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, but Yahweh [promised him that he and his descendants] would possess this land. But we are many; so surely this land has been given to us [by Yahweh] to continue to possess.’

Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes in the land of Israel say, “Abraham was but one, and he inherited the land; but we are many; to us is the land given for an inheritance.”

25 So send a message to them. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You eat meat that still has the animal’s blood in it. You still worship idols. And you still murder others [MTY]. So, (should this land belong to you?/this land should certainly not belong to you!) [RHQ]

Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and life up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land?

26 You rely on using your swords [to obtain things that you want]. You do many detestable things. Each of you has sex with other men’s wives. So (why should you continue to possess the land of Israel?/you should not continue to possess this land!) [RHQ]’

Ye trust to your swords, ye commit abomination, and ye defile, every one, his neighbor's wife; and shall ye possess the land?

27 Send this message to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: As surely as I am alive, those who are left in the ruins [in Jerusalem] will also be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and those who are living in the countryside will be killed by wild animals, and those who are living in forts and caves will die from a plague.

Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open country will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that are in the forts and caves shall fall by the pestilence.

28 I will cause your country to become a desolate wasteland. You will no longer be proud of being a strong country. The mountains of Israel will become very desolate, with the result that no one will walk across them.

And I will make the land an utter desolation; and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.

29 Then, when I have caused your country to become a desolate wasteland because of all the detestable things that you have done, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’

Then shall they know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land an utter desolation, on account of all the abominations which they practise.

30 As for you, you human, your fellow Israelis [here in Babylon] are talking about you along the city walls and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, ‘Come and listen to the message that has come from Yahweh!’

As for thee, O son of man, the sons of thy people speak concerning thee by the walls, and in the doors of houses; and speak one to another, every man to his neighbor, saying, “Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that goeth forth from Jehovah.”

31 My people come to you as they often have done, and they sit in front of you to listen to what you say. But they do not do what you tell them that they must do. With their mouths they say that they love me, but in their inner beings they are eager to acquire things by doing what is unjust.

And they come to thee, as the people assembleth, and they sit before thee, as my people, and they hear thy words: but will not do them; for with their mouth they do what is lovely, but their heart goeth after gain.

32 To them, you are only a man who sings love songs with a beautiful voice, and you play a musical instrument well. They hear what you say, but they do not do what you tell them to do.

And behold, thou art to them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but do them not.

33 The terrible things that I have said will happen to them will surely happen. And then they will know that a prophet has been among them, [and that you are that prophet].”

But when this cometh to pass, (and behold, it shall come to pass, ) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.