Ezekiel 33

The Watchman’s Duty

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, speak to the 1sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming upon the land and 2blows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and 3does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his 4blood will be on his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have 5delivered his life. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is 6taken away 7in his iniquity; but his 8blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

7“Now as for you, son of man, I have 910appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a 11message from My mouth and give them 12warning from Me. 8When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will 13surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. 9But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he 14does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have 15delivered your life.

10“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are 16rotting away in them; 17how then can we 18survive?”’ 11Say to them, ‘19As I live!’ declares the Lord 20God, ‘I take 21no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked 22turn from his way and live. 23Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12And you, son of man, say to 24your fellow citizens, ‘The 25righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will 26not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live 27by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he 28commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he 29turns from his sin and practices 30justice and righteousness, 15if a wicked man restores a pledge, 31pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the 32statutes 33which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 1634None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

17“Yet 35your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and 36commits iniquity, then he shall die in 37it. 19But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20Yet you say, ‘38The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

21Now 39in the 40twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the 41refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “42The city has been 43taken.” 22Now the 44hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the 45refugees came. And He 46opened my mouth 47at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was 48opened and I was no longer 49speechless.

23Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 24“Son of man, they who 50live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘51Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to 52us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ 25Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the 53blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. 54Should you then possess the land? 26You 5556rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ 27Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will 57fall by the sword, and whoever is in the 58open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the 59caves will die of pestilence. 28I will 60make the land a desolation and a waste, and the 61pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. 29Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

30“But as for you, son of man, 62your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘63Come now and hear what the 64message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ 31They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their 65mouth, and their heart goes after their 66gain. 32Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a 67beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33So when it 68comes to pass--69as surely it will--then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”