Ezekiel 33

1 And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2 and he seide, Thou, sone of man, speke to the sones of thi puple, and thou schalt seie to hem, A lond whanne Y bringe in a swerd on it, and the puple of the lond takith o man of hise laste men, and makith hym aspiere on hym,

“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,

3 and he seeth a swerd comynge on the lond, and sowneth with a clarioun, and tellith to the puple,

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

4 forsothe a man that herith, who euer he is, the sowne of the clarioun, and kepith not him silf, and the swerd cometh, and takith hym awei, the blood of hym schal be on the heed of hym.

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].

5 He herde the sown of the clarioun, and kepte not hym silf, his blood schal be in hym; forsothe if he kepith hym silf, he schal saue his lijf.

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.

6 That if the aspiere seeth a swerd comynge, and sowneth not with a clarioun, and the puple kepith not hym silf, and the swerd cometh, and takith awei a man of hem, sotheli he is takun in his wickidnesse; but Y schal seke the blood of hym of the hond of the aspiere.

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.’

7 And, thou, sone of man, Y yaf thee aspiere to the hous of Israel; therfor thou schalt here of my mouth a word, and schalt telle to hem of me.

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.

8 If whanne Y seie to the wickid man, Thou, wickid man, schalt die bi deth, thou spekist not, that the wickid man kepe hym silf fro his weie, thilke wickid man schal die in his wickidnesse, but Y schal seke his blood of thin hond.

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].

9 Forsothe if whanne thou tellist to the wickid man, that he be conuertid fro his weies, he is not conuertid fro his weie, he schal die in his wickidnesse; certis thou hast delyuered thi soule.

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.

10 Therfore thou, sone of man, seie to the hous of Israel, Thus ye spaken, seiynge, Oure wickidnessis and oure synnes ben on vs, and we failen in tho; hou therfor moun we lyue? seie thou to hem,

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?”’

11 Y lyue, seith the Lord God, Y nyle the deth of the wickid man, but that the wickid man be conuertid fro his weie, and lyue; be ye conuertid fro youre worste weies, and whi schulen ye die, the hous of Israel?

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]?”’

12 Therfor thou, sone of man, seie to the sones of thi puple, The riytfulnesse of a riytful man schal not delyuere hym, in whateuer dai he doith synne; and the wickidnesse of a wickid man schal not anoye him, in what euere dai he is conuertid fro his wickidnesse; and a iust man schal not mowe lyue in his riytfulnesse, in what euer dai he doith synne.

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.’

13 Also if Y seie to a iust man, that he schal lyue bi lijf, and he tristith in his riytfulnesse, and doith wickidnesse, alle his riytfulnessis schulen be youun to foryetyng, and in his wickidnesse which he wrouyte, in that he schal die.

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.

14 Forsothe if Y seie to the wickid man, Thou schalt die bi deth, and he doith penaunce for his synne, and doith dom and riytfulnesse,

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].

15 and if thilke wickid man restorith a wed, and yeldith raueyn, and goith in comaundementis of lijf, and doith not ony vniust thing, he schal lyue bi lijf, and schal not die.

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].

16 Alle hise synnes which he synnede, schulen not be arettid to hym; he dide doom and riytfulnesse, he schal lyue bi lijf.

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

17 And the sones of thi puple seiden, The weie of the Lord is not euene weiyte; and the weie of hem is vniust.

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

18 For whanne a iust man goith awei fro his riytfulnesse, and doith wickidnessis, he schal die in tho;

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.

19 and whanne a wickid man goith awei fro his wickidnesse, and doith dom and riytfulnes, he schal lyue in tho.

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.

20 And ye seien, The weie of the Lord is not riytful. Y schal deme ech man bi hise weies of you, the hous of Israel.

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

21 And it was doon in the tweluethe yeer, in the tenthe monethe, in the fyuethe dai of the monethe of our passyng ouer, he that fledde fro Jerusalem cam to me, and seide, The citee is distried.

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!”

22 Forsothe the hond of the Lord was maad to me in the euentid, bifore that he cam that fledde, and he openyde my mouth, til he cam to me eerli; and whanne my mouth was openyd, Y was no more stille.

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.

23 And the word of the Lord was maad to me, and he seide,

Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,

24 Thou, sone of man, thei that dwellen in `thingis in poynt to falle doun on the erthe of Israel, seien, spekynge, Abraham was oon, and bi eritage he hadde the lond in possessioun; forsothe we ben manye, the lond is youun to vs in to possessioun.

“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.’

25 Therfor thou schalt seie to hem, The Lord God seith these thingis, Whether ye that eten in blood, and reisen youre iyen to youre vnclennessis, and scheden blood, schulen haue in possessioun the lond bi eritage?

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]

26 Ye stoden in youre swerdis, ye diden youre abhomynaciouns, and ech man defoulide the wijf of his neiybore; and schulen ye welde the lond bi eritage?

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]’

27 Thou schalt seie these thingis to hem, Thus seith the Lord God, Y lyue, for thei that dwellen in `thingis redi to falle doun, schulen falle doun bi swerd, and he that is in the feld, schal be youun to beestis to be deuourid; but thei that ben in stronge holdis and in dennes, schulen die bi pestilence.

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.

28 And Y schal yyue the lond in to wildirnesse, and in to desert, and the pryde and strengthe therof schal faile; and the hillis of Israel schulen be maad desolat, for noon is that schal passe bi tho.

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.

29 And thei schulen wite, that Y am the Lord, whanne Y schal yyue her lond desolat and desert, for alle her abhomynaciouns whiche thei wrouyten.

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].’

30 And thou, sone of man, the sones of thi puple that speken of thee bisidis wallis, and in the doris of housis, and seien, oon to an other, a man to his neiybore, and speken, Come ye, and here we, what is the word goynge out fro the Lord;

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!’

31 and thei comen to thee, as if my puple entrith, and my puple sitten bifore thee, and thei heren thi wordis, and doon not tho; for thei turnen tho in to the song of her mouth, and her herte sueth her auerice;

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.

32 and it is to hem as a song of musik, which is songun bi soft and swete sown; and thei heren thi wordis, and thei doon not tho;

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.

33 and whanne that that is bifore seide cometh, for lo! it cometh, thanne thei schulen wite, that `profetis weren among hem.

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].”