Ezekiel 33

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

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

2 “Son of man, declare this to your people; say to them, 'When I bring a sword against any land, then the people of that land take one man from among themselves and make him a watchman for them.

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them:

3 He looks for the sword as it comes on the land, and he blows his horn to warn the people!

And he see the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people:

4 If the people hear the sound of the horn but do not pay attention, and if the sword comes and kills them, then each one's blood is on his own head.

Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come, and cut him off: his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 If someone hears the sound of the horn and pays no attention, his blood is on him; but if he pays attention, he will save his own life.

He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not look to himself, his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life.

6 However, if the watchman sees the sword as it is coming, but if he does not blow the horn, with the result that the people are not warned, and if the sword comes and takes anyone's life, then that person dies in his own sin, but I will require his blood from the watchman.'

And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet: and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come, and cut off a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.

7 Now you yourself, son of man! I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; you will hear the words from my mouth and warn them on my behalf.

So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

8 If I say to a wicked person, 'Wicked one, you will surely die!' but if you do not announce this so as to warn the wicked about his way, then he who is wicked will die in his sin, but I will require his blood from your hand!

When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.

9 But you, if you warn the wicked about his way, so that he might turn back from it, and if he does not turn back from his way, then he will die in his sin, but you yourself will have saved your own life.

But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way: he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 So you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'You are saying this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are decaying in them! How can we live?”'

Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them: how then can we live?

11 Say to them, 'As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—I do not delight in the death of the wicked, for if the wicked repents from his way, then he will live! Repent! Repent from your wicked ways! For why should you die, house of Israel?'

Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 So now you, son of man, say to your people, 'The righteousness of a righteous person will not save him if he sins! The wickedness of a wicked person will not cause him to perish if he repents from his sin! For the righteous person will not be able to live because of his righteousness if he sins.

Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin: and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness: and the just shall not be able to live in his justice, in what day soever he shall sin.

13 If I say to the righteous, “He will surely live!” and if he trusts in his righteousness and then commits injustice, I will not call to mind any of his righteousness. He will die for the wickedness he committed.

Yea, if I shall say to the just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity: all his justices shall be forgotten, and in his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.

14 So if I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” but if he then repents from his sins and does what is just and right—

And if I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die: and he do penance for his sin, and do judgment and justice,

15 if he restores the loan guarantee that he wickedly demanded, or if he makes restitution for what he has stolen, and if he walks in the statutes that give life and no longer commits sin—then he will surely live. He will not die.

And if that wicked man restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing: he shall surely live, and shall not die.

16 None of the sins that he has committed will be called to mind for him. He has acted justly and rightly, and so, he will surely live!

None of his sins, which he hath committed, shall be imputed to him: he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live.

17 But your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” but it is your ways that are not fair!

And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable: whereas their own way is unjust.

18 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, then he will die in it!

For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them.

19 When the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and righteous, he will live because of those things!

And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments, and justice: be shall live in them.

20 But you people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” I will judge each of you according to his way, house of Israel!'”

And you say: The way of the Lord is not right, I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.

21 It happened in the twelfth year, on the fifth day of the tenth month of our captivity, that a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and said, “The city has been captured!”

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that there came to me one that was fled from Jerusalem, saying: The city is laid waste.

22 The hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening before the fugitive came, and my mouth was opened by the time that he came to me in the dawn. So my mouth was open; I was no longer mute!

And the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was fled came: and he opened my mouth till he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I was silent no more.

23 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

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

24 “Son of man, the ones inhabiting those ruins in the land of Israel are talking and say, 'Abraham was only one person, and he inherited the land, but we are many! The land has been given to us as a possession.'

Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places in the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many, the land is given us in possession.

25 Therefore say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: You eat blood, and you lift up your eyes towards your idols, then you pour out people's blood. Should you really possess the land?

Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God, You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?

26 You have depended on your swords and have done disgusting things; each man defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you really possess the land?'

You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbour’s wife; and shall you possess the land by inheritance?

27 You will say this to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, surely the ones in the ruins will fall by the sword, and I will give those in the fields to the living creatures as food, and those in fortresses and in caves will die of plagues.

Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places, shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in holds, and caves, shall die of the pestilence.

28 Then I will turn the land into a desolation and a horror, and the pride of its might will end, for the mountains of Israel will be deserted, and there will be no one to pass through them.'

And I will make the land a wilderness, and a desert, and the proud strength thereof shall fail, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass by them.

29 So they will know that I am Yahweh, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all the abominations that they have done.

And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land waste and desolate, for all their abominations which they have committed.

30 So now you, son of man—your people are saying things about you beside the walls and the gates of the houses, and each says to one another—each man to his brother, 'Let us go and listen to the prophet's word that comes out from Yahweh!'

And thou son of man: the children of thy people, that talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another each men to his neighbour, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

31 So my people will come to you, as they often do, and will sit in front of you and listen to your words, but they will not obey them. Right words are in their mouths, but their hearts are going after unjust profit.

And they come to thee, as if a people were coming in, and my people sit before thee: and hear thy words, and do them not: for they turn them into a song of their mouth, and their heart goeth after their covetousness.

32 For you are like a lovely song to them, a beautiful sound that is well played on a stringed instrument, so they will listen to your words, but none of them will obey them.

And thou art to them as a musical song which is sung with a sweet and agreeable voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not.

33 So when all of this happens—behold! it will happen!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

And when that which was foretold shall come to pass, (for behold it is coming, ) then shall they know that a prophet bath been among them.