Ezekiel 33
The Watchman’s Duty
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, speak to the asons 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 bblows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and cdoes not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his dblood will be on his own head. 5‘He 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 edelivered his life. 6‘But 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 ftaken away ▼▼ Or for, and so throughout the ch
in his iniquity; but his hblood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’ 7“Now as for you, son of man, I have ▼▼ Or given
,
jappointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a ▼▼ Lit word
message from My mouth and give them lwarning from Me. 8“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will msurely 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. 9“But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he ndoes not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have odelivered 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 protting away in them; qhow then can we ▼▼ Lit live
survive?”’ 11“Say to them, ‘ sAs I live!’ declares the Lord ▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord , and so throughout the ch
God, ‘I take uno pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked vturn from his way and live. wTurn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12“And you, son of man, say to ▼▼ Lit the sons of your people
your fellow citizens, ‘The yrighteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will znot stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live ▼▼ Lit by it
by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13“When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he abcommits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14“But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he acturns from his sin and practices adjustice and righteousness, 15if a wicked man restores a pledge, aepays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the afstatutes ▼▼ Lit of life
which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 ah“None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live. 17“Yet ▼▼ Lit the sons of your people
your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18“When the righteous turns from his righteousness and ajcommits iniquity, then he shall die in ▼▼ Lit them
it. 19“But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20“Yet you say, ‘ alThe 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 amin the antwelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the ▼▼ Or refugee
refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, ap“The city has been ▼▼ Lit smitten
taken.” 22Now the arhand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the ▼▼ Lit refugee
refugees came. And He atopened my mouth ▼▼ Lit until he came
at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was avopened and I was no longer ▼▼ Or mute
speechless. 23Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 24“Son of man, they who axlive in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘ ayAbraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to azus who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ 25“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the bablood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. bbShould you then possess the land? 26“You ▼▼ Lit stand
,
bdrely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ 27“Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will befall by the sword, and whoever is in the ▼▼ Lit surface of the field
open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the bgcaves will die of pestilence. 28“I will bhmake the land a desolation and a waste, and the bipride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. 29“Then 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, ▼▼ Lit the sons of your people
your 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, ‘ bkCome now and hear what the ▼▼ Lit word
message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ 31“They 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 bmmouth, and their heart goes after their bngain. 32“Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a bobeautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33“So when it bpcomes to pass— ▼▼ Lit behold, it is coming
as surely it will— then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”
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