1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

The Word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 S on of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring a sword upon the land and the people of the land take a man from within their borders and set him up as a watchman;

“Son of man, speak to the children of your people. Say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men to keep watch for them,

3 a nd he should see the sword coming upon the land, if he should blow the shofar, and warn the people,

and he sees the sword coming upon the land and sounds the horn to tell the people of the danger,

4 t hen whoever hears the sound of the shofar and does not take warning; and the coming of the sword should take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

then if anyone hears the horn and does not take care, and a sword comes and kills him, he will be to blame for his own death.

5 H e heard the sound of the shofar and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.

He heard the sound of the horn, but did not worry about the danger. He will be to blame for his own death. If he had been careful, he would have saved his life.

6 B ut if the watchman should see the sword coming and not blow the shofar and the people not be warned, if the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away because of his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn, and the people are not told of the danger, and a sword comes and kills one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin. But the blood of the watchman must be given.’

7 S o thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me.

“Son of man, I have chosen you as a watchman for the people of Israel. So when I give you the word, you must tell them of the danger.

8 W hen I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die for his sin; but I will require his blood at thine hand.

When I tell a sinful man that he will die for sure, and you do not speak to him about the danger of his way, that sinful man will die in his sin. But your blood must be given.

9 N evertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he does not turn from his way, he shall die for his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

But if you tell a sinful man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his sin. But you have saved your life. God Judges Well

10 ¶ Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel: Ye speak thus, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are consumed because of them. How should we then live?

“Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said, “Our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away in them. How then can we live?”’

11 S ay unto them, As I live, said the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and that he live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I am not pleased when sinful people die. But I am pleased when the sinful turn from their way and live. Turn! Turn from your sinful ways! Why will you die, O people of Israel?’

12 A nd thou, son of man, say unto the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him the day that he rebels; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not impede him in the day that he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness in the day that he sins.

Now, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘If a man does what is right and good, it will not save him when he sins.’ And the sins of a sinful man will not make him fall when he turns from his sinful way. But the man who is right and good will not be able to live by his good ways when he sins.

13 W hen I am saying to the righteous, Thou shalt shall surely live and he trusting in his own righteousness commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

When I tell the man who is right and good that he will live, and he trusts in his good ways so much that he sins, none of his good works will be remembered. He will die for the sin he has done.

14 A nd, when I am saying unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turns from his sin, and does judgment and righteousness

But when I tell the sinful man that he will die, and he turns from his sin and does what is right and good,

15 i f the wicked restores the pledge, returns that which he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity he shall surely live; he shall not die.

if he gives back what a person gave him as trust for a promise, pays back what he had stolen, follows the Laws that give life and does not sin, he will live for sure. He will not die.

16 N one of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. Has he lived according to judgment and righteousness? He shall surely live.

None of the sins he has done will be remembered against him. He has done what is right and good, and he will live for sure.

17 T hen the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: but their way is the one that is not straight.

“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But it is their way that is not right.

18 W hen the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die thereby.

When the right and good man turns from his good way and sins, he will die for it.

19 A nd when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does judgment and righteousness, he shall live thereby.

But when the sinful man turns from his sin and does what is right and good, he will live because of it.

20 Y et ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you each one after his ways.

Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O people of Israel, I will judge each of you by his ways.” Jerusalem Is Taken

21 ¶ And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

On the fifth day of the tenth month in the twelfth year since we had been taken to a strange land, a man who got away from Jerusalem came and said to me, “The city has been taken.”

22 N ow the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening before he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and he opened my mouth, and I was never dumb again.

Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before the man came. And He opened my mouth so that when the man came to me in the morning, I was able to speak. The Sins of the People

23 A nd the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying,

24 S on of man, those that inhabit these wastes in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he possessed the land; but we are many; the land is given us for a possession.

“Son of man, the people who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he owned the land. But we are many, and for sure the land has been given to us.’

25 T herefore say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Ye eat with the blood and lift up your eyes toward your idols and shed blood, and shall ye possess this land?

So tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “You eat meat with the blood in it, and worship your false gods as you kill. Should the land belong to you?

26 Y e stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile each one his neighbour’s wife, and shall ye possess the land?

You trust in your sword, and keep on sinning. Each of you does sex sins with his neighbor’s wife. Should the land belong to you?”’

27 T hou shalt speak unto them like this, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; As I live, surely those that are in those wastes shall fall by the sword, and he that is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those that are in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “As I live, those who are in the waste places will be killed by the sword. Whoever is in the open field, I will feed to the wild animals. And those who are in the strong-places and in the caves will die of disease.

28 F or I will make the land into desert and solitude, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that no one shall pass through.

I will destroy the land and make it a waste. The pride of her power will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be laid waste, so that no one will pass through.

29 T hen they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land into solitude and desert because of all their abominations which they have committed.

Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I destroy the land and make it a waste because of all the hated sins they have done.”’

30 ¶ And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people are still talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another, each one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD.

“As for you, son of man, your people are talking to each other about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses. They are saying, ‘Come and hear the word that has come from the Lord.’

31 A nd they shall come unto thee as the people come, and they shall be before thee, my people, and they shall hear thy words, but they shall not do them; for with their mouth they flatter, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

They come and sit in front of you as My people, and listen to the words you say. But they do not do them. With their mouth they speak of love, but their hearts are full of sinful desire.

32 A nd, behold, thou art unto them as a singer of love songs, one that has a good voice and can sing well: and they shall hear thy words, but they will not do them.

They think of you as nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays music well. For they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

33 B ut when this comes to pass (behold, it comes), then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

When all this comes true, and it will, then they will know that a man of God has been among them.”