Ezekiel 33

¹ The word of the LORD came to me:

² “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, the people of that land choose one of their number and set him up as a watchman.

³ He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, and warns the people.

⁴ If anyone hears the trumpet and does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.

⁵ He heard the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But whoever takes warning saves his life.

⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes one of their lives, that person will be taken because of his guilt; but I will demand an account of his blood from the watchman.’

⁷ And you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. You will hear a word from my mouth and warn them on my behalf.

⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked person about his way, he will die because of his guilt, but I will demand an account of his blood from you.

⁹ But if you warn the wicked person about his way, urging him to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he will die because of his guilt, and you will have saved your life.

¹⁰ And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘You are saying, “Our transgressions and our sins weigh on us, and because of them we are wasting away. How can we live?”’

¹¹ Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?’”

¹² “And you, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not save him on the day he transgresses; and the wickedness of the wicked will not make him stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous person will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day he sins.

¹³ When I say to the righteous person, “You will surely live,” and he trusts in his righteousness but commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the injustice he has committed, he will die.

¹⁴ And when I say to the wicked person, “You will surely die,” he turns from his sin and does what is just and right.

¹⁵ If the wicked person returns the pledge, repays what he stole, and follows the statutes that give life, committing no injustice, he will surely live; he will not die.

¹⁶ None of the sins he committed will be held against him; he has done what is just and right, and he will surely live.

¹⁷ But your people say, “The Lord’s way is not right,” when it is their own way that is not right.

¹⁸ When the righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will die because of it.

¹⁹ And when the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of it.

²⁰ Yet you say, “The Lord’s way is not right.” I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel.’”

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.”

²² The hand of the LORD had come upon me in the evening, before the fugitive arrived. He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. My mouth was opened, and I was no longer silent.

²³ The word of the LORD came to me:

²⁴ “Son of man, those who live among these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he took possession of the land. We are many, so the land has been given to us as our inheritance.’

²⁵ Therefore say to them: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “You eat meat with its blood, lift your eyes to your detestable idols, and shed blood. Do you expect to take possession of the land?

²⁶ You rely on your sword, commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Do you expect to take possession of the land?”’

²⁷ Say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “As surely as I live, those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword; those in the open country I have given to the wild animals to be devoured; and those in the strongholds and caves will die of plague.

²⁸ I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will lie desolate, with no one passing through them.

²⁹ Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a wasteland because of all the abominations they have committed.”’

³⁰ And you, son of man, your people talk about you beside the walls and in the doorways of their houses. They speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come and hear what word has come from the LORD.’

³¹ They come to you as people come together, sit before you as my people, and hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths express devotion, but their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

³² Look, to them you are like a song of longing, with a beautiful voice and skillful playing. They hear your words, but they do not put them into practice.

³³ When this comes—and look, it is coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

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