New English Translation
Ezekiel 3:21
21However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”
Ezekiel 3:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
- New International Version (NIV)But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
Context of Ezekiel 3:21
19But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. 20“When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.” 22The hand of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, and I will speak with you there.” 23So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I threw myself face down.
Read all of Ezekiel 3Ezekiel 3:21 word by word
וְאַתָּ֞ה כִּ֧י הִזְהַרְתּ֣וֹ צַדִּ֗יק לְבִלְתִּ֥י חֲטֹ֛א צַדִּ֖יק וְה֣וּא לֹא־חָטָ֑א חָי֤וֹ יִֽחְיֶה֙ כִּ֣י נִזְהָ֔ר וְאַתָּ֖ה אֶֽת־נַפְשְׁךָ֥ הִצַּֽלְתָּ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ezekiel 3:21
- Matthew 24:24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
- Acts 20:31Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.
- 1 Corinthians 4:14I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children.
- 1 Corinthians 10:12So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall.
- Galatians 1:6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel –
- Galatians 5:2Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all!
- Ephesians 4:17So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- Ephesians 5:5For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
- Colossians 1:28We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.
- Colossians 3:5So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.
- 1 John 3:6Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.
- Revelation 3:19All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!
- Ezekiel 3:20“When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.
- Psalms 19:11Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; those who obey them receive a rich reward.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 3:21
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 This passage anticipates the great moral principle of divine government Ezekiel 3:20 I lay a stumblingblock before him - I bring him to trial by placing difficulties and temptations in his way (compare Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 44:12 margin; Ezekiel 14:3-4). It is true that God tempts no man in order to his destruction, but in the course of His Providence He permits men to be tried in order that their faith may be approved, and in this trial some…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-21Verses 12-21 This mission made the holy angels rejoice. All this was to convince Ezekiel, that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work. He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people, and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen. And however retirement, meditation, and communion with God may be sweet, the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation. The Lord told the prophet he had appointed…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21The prophet spoke to two groups of people: the righteous and the wicked. Ezekiel had to deliver his message to both groups. He did not choose who would hear it. Both the righteous and the wicked would be judged by how they responded to his word (see Matthew 13:3–9, 18–23). Those who listened and obeyed would receive life. Those who rejected his message would receive death, even if they had once been righteous. Faith in the Lord’s word, spoken through his…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-271. eat ... and ... speak--God's messenger must first inwardly appropriate God's truth himself, before he "speaks" it to others (see on Eze 2:8). Symbolic actions were, when possible and proper, performed outwardly; otherwise, internally and in spiritual vision, the action so narrated making the naked statement more intuitive and impressive by presenting the subject in a concentrated, embodied form.Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 3:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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