Ezekiel 33

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

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

2 Son of man, give a word to the children of your people, and say to them, When I make the sword come on a land, if the people of the land take a man from among their number and make him their watchman:

Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and you shall say to them, On whatever 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 coming on the land, by sounding the horn he gives the people news of their danger;

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

4 Then anyone who, hearing the sound of the horn, does not take note of it, will himself be responsible for his death, if the sword comes and takes him away.

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 On hearing the sound of the horn, he did not take note; his blood will be on him; for if he had taken note his life would have been safe.

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 coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood.

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 made you a watchman for the children of Israel; and you are to give ear to the word of my mouth and give them news from me of their danger.

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

8 When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.

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

9 But if you make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way for the purpose of turning him from it, and he is not turned from his way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, but your life will be safe.

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

10 And you, son of man, say to the children of Israel, You say, Our wrongdoing and our sins are on us and we are wasting away in them; how then may we have life?

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

11 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the evil-doer; it is more pleasing to me if he is turned from his way and has life: be turned, be turned from your evil ways; why are you looking for death, O children of Israel?

Say to them, Thus says 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 you heartily from your way; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the upright man will not make him safe in the day when he does wrong; and the evil-doing of the evil man will not be the cause of his fall in the day when he is turned from his evil-doing; and the upright man will not have life because of his righteousness in the day when he does evil.

Say to the children of your 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 say to the upright that life will certainly be his; if he puts his faith in his righteousness and does evil, not one of his upright acts will be kept in memory; but in the evil he has done, death will overtake him.

When I say to the righteous, [You shall 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 And when I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; if he is turned from his sin and does what is ordered and right;

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

15 If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him.

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 Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in mind against him: he has done what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his.

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

17 But the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: when it is they whose way is not equal.

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

18 When the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, death will overtake him in it.

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

19 And when the evil man, turning away from his evil-doing, does what is ordered and right, he will get life by it.

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

20 And still you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, I will be your judge, giving to everyone the reward of his ways.

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

21 Now in the twelfth year after we had been taken away prisoners, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had got away in flight from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The town has been taken.

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 hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before the man who had got away came to me; and he made my mouth open, ready for his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no longer without voice.

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

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

24 Son of man, those who are living in these waste places in the land of Israel say, Abraham was but one, and he had land for his heritage: but we are a great number; the land is given to us for our heritage.

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 For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?

26 You put your faith in your swords, you do disgusting things, everyone takes his neighbour's wife: are you to have the land for your heritage?

27 This is what you are to say to them: The Lord has said, By my life, truly, those who are in the waste places will be put to the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts for their food, and those who are in the strong places and in holes in the rocks will come to their death by disease.

Therefore say to them, Thus says 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 kill with pestilence.

28 And I will make the land a waste and a cause of wonder, and the pride of her strength will come to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be made waste so that no one will go 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 be certain that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a waste and a cause of wonder, because of all the disgusting things which they have done,

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 And as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking together about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, saying to one another, Come now, give ear to the word which comes from the Lord.

And [as for] you, son of man, the children of your people are they that speak concerning you 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 And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.

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

32 And truly you are to them like a love song by one who has a very pleasing voice and is an expert player on an instrument: for they give ear to your words but do them not.

And you are to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned lute, and they will hear your words, but they will not do them.

33 And when this comes about (see, it is coming), then it will be clear to them that a prophet has been among 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.