Ezekiel 33

1 The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

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

2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from amongst them, and set him for their watchman,

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and thou shalt say to them, On whatsoever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man of them, and set him for their watchman:

3 if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people,

and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people;

4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and doesn’t heed the warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

and he that hears the sound of the trumpet shall hear [indeed], and [yet] not take heed, and the sword shall come upon him, and overtake him, his blood shall be upon his [own] head.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and didn’t take warning. His blood will be on him; whereas if he had heeded the warning, he would have delivered his soul.

Because he heard the sound of the trumpet, and took no heed, his blood shall be upon him: but the other, because he took heed, has delivered his soul.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword come and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from amongst them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and do not sound the trumpet, and the people do not watch; and the sword come, and take a soul from among them, that [soul] is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood [thereof] will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 “So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from me.

And thou, son of man, I have set thee [as] a watchman to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear a word from my mouth.

8 When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand.

When I say to the sinner, Thou shalt surely die; [if] thou speak not to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9 Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

But if thou forewarn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but thou hast delivered thine own soul.

10 “You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘You say this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then can we live?”’

And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel; Thus have ye spoken, saying, Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live?

11 Tell them, ‘“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?”’

Say to them, Thus saith the Lord; [As] I live, I desire not the death of the ungodly, as that the ungodly should turn from his way and live: turn ye heartily from your way; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 “You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins.

Say to the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him, in the day wherein he errs: and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not harm him, in the day wherein he turns from his iniquity, but the righteous [erring] shall not be able to deliver himself.

13 When I tell the righteous that he will surely live, if he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed.

When I say to the righteous, [Thou shalt live; and] he trusts in his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity, none of his righteousnesses shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has wrought, in it shall he die.

14 Again, when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right,

And when I say to the ungodly, Thou shalt surely die; and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgment and justice,

15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity, he will surely live. He will not die.

and return the pledge, and repay that which he has robbed, [and] walk in the ordinances of life, so as to do no wrong; he shall surely live, and shall not die.

16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will surely live.

None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered: because he has wrought judgment and righteousness; by them shall he live.

17 “‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair;” but as for them, their way is not fair.

Yet the children of thy people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight: whereas this their way is not straight.

18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will even die therein.

When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them.

19 When the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, he will live by it.

And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgment and righteousness, he shall live by them.

20 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.’”

And this is that which ye said, The way of the Lord is [not] straight. I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one for his ways.

21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!”

And it came to pass in the tenth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is taken.

22 Now the LORD’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and he opened my mouth, when he came to me in the morning: and my mouth was open, it was no longer kept closed.

23 The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

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

24 “Son of man, those who inhabit the waste 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 for inheritance.’

Son of man, they that inhabit the desolate [places] on the land of Israel say, Abram was one, and he possessed the land: and we are more numerous; to us the land is given for a possession.

25 Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land?

26 You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbour’s wife. So should you possess the land?”’

27 “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give whoever is in the open field to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence.

Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord God, [As] I live, surely they that are in the desolate places shall fall by swords and they that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and them that are in the fortified [cities] and them that are in the caves I will slay with pestilence.

28 I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through.

And I will make the land desert, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate by reason of no man passing through.

29 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desert, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have wrought.

30 “As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from the LORD.’

And [as for] thee, son of man, the children of thy people are they that speak concerning thee by the walls, and in the porches of the houses, and they talk one to another, saying, Let us come together, and let us hear the [words] that proceed from the Lord.

31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.

They approach thee as a people comes together, and sit before thee, and hear thy words, but they will not do them: for [there is] falsehood in their mouth, and their heart [goes] after their pollutions.

32 Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them.

And thou art to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned psaltery, and they will hear thy words, but they will not do them.

33 “When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been amongst them.”

But whenever it shall come [to pass], they will say, Behold, it is come: and they shall know that there was a prophet in the midst of them.