Hiezechielis Prophetæ 33
1 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me dicens:
Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
2 Fili hominis loquere ad filios populi tui, et dices ad eos: Terra cum induxero super eam gladium, et tulerit populus terrae virum unum de novissimis suis, et constituerit eum super se speculatorem:
“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 et ille viderit gladium venientem super terram, et cecinerit buccina, et annunciaverit populo:
if he sees the enemy army [MTY] coming to attack his country, and he blows a trumpet to warn the people,
4 Audiens autem, quisquis ille est, sonitum buccinae, et non se observaverit, veneritque gladius, et tulerit eum: sanguis ipsius super caput eius erit.
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 Sonum buccinae audivit, et non se observavit, sanguis eius in ipso erit: si autem se custodierit, animam suam salvabit.
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 Quod si speculator viderit gladium venientem, et non insonuerit buccina: et populus se non custodierit, veneritque gladius, et tulerit de eis animam: ille quidem in iniquitate sua captus est, sanguinem autem eius de manu speculatoris requiram.
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 Et tu fili hominis, speculatorem dedi te domui Israel: audiens ergo ex ore meo sermonem, annunciabis eis ex 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 Si me dicente ad impium: Impie, morte morieris: non fueris locutus ut se custodiat impius a via sua: ipse impius in iniquitate sua morietur, sanguinem autem eius de manu tua requiram.
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 Si autem annunciante te ad impium ut a viis suis convertatur, non fuerit conversus a via sua: ipse in iniquitate sua morietur: porro tu animam tuam liberasti.
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 Tu ergo fili hominis dic ad domum Israel: Sic locuti estis, dicentes: Iniquitates nostrae, et peccata nostra super nos sunt, et in ipsis nos tabescimus: quomodo ergo vivere poterimus?
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 Dic ad eos: Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus: nolo mortem impii, sed ut convertatur impius a via sua, et vivat. Convertimini a viis vestris pessimis: et quare moriemini domus 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 Tu itaque fili hominis dic ad filios populi tui: Iustitia iusti non liberabit eum in quacumque die peccaverit: et impietas impii non nocebit ei, in quacumque die conversus fuerit ab impietate sua: et iustus non poterit vivere in iustitia sua, in quacumque die peccaverit.
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 Etiam si dixero iusto quod vita vivat, et confisus in iustitia sua fecerit iniquitatem: omnes iustitiae eius oblivioni tradentur, et in iniquitate sua, quam operatus est, in ipsa morietur.
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 Si autem dixero impio: Morte morieris: et egerit poenitentiam a peccato suo, feceritque iudicium et iustitiam,
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 et pignus restituerit ille impius, rapinamque reddiderit, in mandatis vitae ambulaverit, nec fecerit quidquam iniustum: vita vivet, et non morietur.
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 Omnia peccata eius, quae peccavit, non imputabuntur ei: iudicium, et iustitiam fecit, vita vivet.
I will not think about the sins that he has committed; he will surely remain alive.
17 Et dixerunt filii populi tui: Non est aequi ponderis via Domini, et ipsorum via iniusta est.
Your fellow Israelis say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But it is your behavior that is not fair.
18 Cum enim recesserit iustus a iustitia sua, feceritque iniquitates, morietur in eis.
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 Et cum recesserit impius ab impietate sua, feceritque iudicium, et iustitiam, vivet in eis.
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 Et dicitis: Non est recta via Domini. Unumquemque iuxta vias suas iudicabo de vobis, domus 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 Et factum est in duodecimo anno, in decimo mense, in quinta mensis transmigrationis nostrae, venit ad me qui fugerat de Ierusalem, dicens: Vastata est civitas.
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 Manus autem Domini facta fuerat ad me vespere, antequam veniret qui fugerat: aperuitque os meum donec veniret ad me mane, et aperto ore meo non silui amplius.
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 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:
Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said,
24 Fili hominis, qui habitant in ruinosis his super humum Israel, loquentes aiunt: Unus erat Abraham, et hereditate possedit terram: nos autem multi sumus, nobis data est terra in possessionem.
“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 Idcirco dices ad eos: Haec dicit Dominus Deus: Qui in sanguine comeditis, et oculos vestros levatis ad immunditias vestras, et sanguinem funditis: numquid terram hereditate possidebitis?
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 Stetistis in gladiis vestris, fecistis abominationes, et unusquisque uxorem proximi sui polluit: et terram hereditate possidebitis?
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 Haec dices ad eos: Sic dicit Dominus Deus: Vivo ego, quia qui in ruinosis habitant, gladio cadent: et qui in agro est, bestiis tradetur ad devorandum: qui autem in praesidiis, et speluncis sunt, peste morientur.
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 Et dabo terram in solitudinem, et in desertum, et deficiet superba fortitudo eius: et desolabuntur montes Israel, eo quod nullus sit qui per eos transeat.
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 Et scient quia ego Dominus, cum dedero terram eorum desolatam, et desertam propter universas abominationes suas, quas operati sunt.
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 Et tu fili hominis: filii populi tui, qui loquuntur de te iuxta muros, et in ostiis domorum, et dicunt unus ad alterum, vir ad proximum suum loquentes: Venite, et audiamus quis sit sermo egrediens a Domino.
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 Et veniunt ad te, quasi si ingrediatur populus, et sedent coram te populus meus: et audiunt sermones tuos, et non faciunt eos: quia in canticum oris sui vertunt illos, et avaritiam suam sequitur cor eorum.
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 Et es eis quasi carmen musicum, quod suavi, dulcique sono canitur: et audiunt verba tua, et non faciunt ea.
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 Et cum venerit quod praedictum est (ecce enim venit) tunc scient quod prophetes fuerit inter eos.
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].”
