1A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,2‘Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, “Suppose I send enemies against a land. And its people choose one of their men to stand guard.3He sees the enemies coming against the land. He blows a trumpet to warn the people.4Someone hears the trumpet. But they do not pay any attention to the warning. The enemies come and kill them. Then what happens to them will be their own fault.5They heard the sound of the trumpet. But they did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to them was their own fault. If they had paid attention, they would have saved themselves.6But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then their life has been taken away from them because they sinned. But I will hold the guard responsible for their death.”7‘Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.8Suppose I say to a sinful person, “You can be sure that you will die.” And suppose you do not try to get them to change their ways. Then they will die because they have sinned. And I will hold you responsible for their death.9But suppose you do warn that sinful person. You tell them to change their ways. But they do not change. Then they will die because they have sinned. But you will have saved yourself.10‘Son of man, speak to the Israelites. Tell them, “You are saying, ‘Our sins and the wrong things we have done weigh us down. We are wasting away because we have sinned so much. So how can we live?’ ”11Tell them, “When sinful people die, it does not give me any joy. But when they turn away from their sins and live, that makes me very happy. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the LORD and King. “So turn away from your sins! Change your evil ways! Why should you die, people of Israel?”12‘Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, “Suppose a godly person does not obey the LORD. Then the right things that person has done in the past count for nothing. Suppose a sinful person turns away from doing wrong things. Then the wrong things that person has done in the past won’t bring them judgment. A godly person who sins won’t be allowed to live. That’s true even though they used to do right things.”13Suppose I tell a godly person that they will live. And they trust in the fact that they used to do what is right. But now they do what is evil. Then I will not remember any of the right things they have done. They will die because they have done so many evil things.14Suppose I say to a sinful person, “You can be sure you will die.” And then they turn away from their sin. They do what is fair and right.15They return things they take to make sure loans are repaid. They give back what they have stolen. They obey my rules that give life. They do not do what is evil. Then you can be sure they will live. They will not die.16None of the sins they have committed will be held against them. They have done what is fair and right. So you can be sure they will live.17‘In spite of that, your people say, “What the Lord does isn’t fair.” But it is what you do that is not fair.18Suppose a godly person stops doing what is right. And they do what is evil. Then they will die because of it.19But suppose a sinful person turns away from the evil things they have done. And they do what is fair and right. Then they will live by doing that.20In spite of that, you Israelites say, “What the Lord does isn’t fair.” But I will judge each of you based on how you have lived.’
The Lord explains why Jerusalem fell
21It was the 12th year since we had been brought to Babylon as prisoners. On the fifth day of the tenth month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to bring me a report. He said, ‘The city has fallen!’22The evening before the man arrived, the power of the LORD came on me. He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened. I was no longer silent.23Then a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,24‘Son of man, here is what the people living in Israel’s broken-down buildings are saying. “Abraham was only one man. But he owned the land. We are many people. The land must certainly belong to us.”25So tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘You eat meat that still has blood in it. You worship your statues of gods. You commit murder. So should you still possess the land?26You depend on your swords. You do things I hate. Each one of you sleeps with your neighbour’s wife. So should you still possess the land?’ ”27‘Tell them, “Here is what the LORD and King says. ‘The people who are left in those broken-down buildings will be killed by swords. Wild animals will eat up those who are out in the country. Those who are in caves and other safe places will die of a plague. And that is just as sure as I am alive.28I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. The strength Jerusalem is so proud of will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be deserted. No one will travel across them.29So I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. I will punish my people because of all the evil things they have done. I hate those things. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’ ”30‘Son of man, your people are talking about you. They are getting together by the walls of their houses and at their doors. They are saying to one another, “Come. Listen to the LORD’s message.”31My people come to you, just as they usually do. They sit in front of you. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice. With their mouths they say they love me. But in their hearts they want what belongs to others. They try to get rich by cheating them.32You are nothing more to them than someone who sings love songs. They say you have a beautiful voice. They think you play an instrument well. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice.33‘Everything I have told you will come true. You can be sure of it. Then the people will know that a prophet has been among them.’
Ezekiel 33
English Standard Version
Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman
1The word of the Lord came to me:2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, (Eze 2:1; Eze 3:11; Eze 14:17; Eze 33:12; Eze 33:17; Eze 33:30; Eze 37:18; Mic 7:4)3and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, (Am 3:6)4then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. (Eze 3:18; Eze 18:13)5He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. (Eze 3:19)6But 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 any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. (Eze 3:18)7“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. (Eze 3:17; Eze 33:2)8If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. (Eze 33:6)9But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. (Eze 3:19; Eze 33:4; 1Ti 4:16)
Why Will You Die, Israel?
10“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ (Isa 49:14; Eze 2:1; Eze 4:17; Eze 37:11)11Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Eze 16:48; Eze 18:23; Eze 18:31)12“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness[1] when he sins. (2Ch 7:14; Eze 18:24; Eze 33:2; Eze 33:18)13Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. (Eze 33:12)14Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, (Ge 2:17; Eze 3:18; Eze 18:27)15if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. (Le 6:2; Le 6:4; Eze 18:7; Eze 20:11; Lu 19:8)16None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. (Eze 18:22)17“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. (Eze 18:25; Eze 18:29; Eze 33:12)18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. (Eze 18:26; Eze 33:12)19And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. (Eze 18:27; Eze 33:11)20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” (Eze 18:30)
Jerusalem Struck Down
21In 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.” (2Ki 25:2; Eze 1:2; Eze 20:1; Eze 24:26; Eze 26:2; Eze 40:1)22Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. (Eze 1:3; Eze 24:26)23The word of the Lord came to me:24“Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ (Isa 51:2; Eze 2:1; Eze 36:4; Mt 3:9; Lu 3:8; Ac 7:5)25Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? (Ge 9:4; Le 3:17; Eze 18:6; Eze 22:3)26You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? (Ge 27:40; Eze 22:11)27Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. (1Sa 23:29; Eze 14:21; Eze 16:48; Eze 36:4)28And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. (Jer 44:2; Jer 44:6; Jer 44:22; Eze 6:2; Eze 7:24; Eze 30:6; Eze 35:3; Eze 35:9)29Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. (Eze 6:7)30“As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ (Eze 33:2; Eze 33:24)31And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. (Ps 78:36; Isa 29:13; Jer 12:2; Eze 8:1; 1Jo 3:18)32And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays[2] well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. (1Sa 16:17; Mt 7:26; Lu 6:49)33When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Eze 2:5; Eze 33:29)