1 A gain the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

2 “ Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman,

`Son of man, speak unto the sons of thy people, and thou hast said unto them: A land -- when I bring in against it a sword, And the people of the land have taken one man out of their borders, And made him to them for a watchman.

3 w hen he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people,

And he hath seen the sword coming against the land, And hath blown with a trumpet, and hath warned the people,

4 t hen whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

And the hearer hath heard the voice of the trumpet, and he hath not taken warning, And come in doth the sword, and taketh him away, His blood is on his head.

5 H e heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.

The voice of the trumpet he heard, And he hath not taken warning, his blood is on him, And he who took warning his soul hath delivered.

6 B ut if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

And the watchman, when he seeth the sword coming in, And he hath not blown with a trumpet, And the people hath not been warned, And come in doth a sword, And taketh away of them -- a soul, He in his iniquity is taken away, And his blood from the hand of the watchman I require.

7 “ So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

And thou, son of man, A watchman I gave thee to the house of Israel, And thou hast heard from My mouth a word, And thou hast warned them from Me.

8 W hen I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely 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 at your hand.

In My saying to the wicked, O wicked one -- thou dost surely die, And thou hast not spoken to warn the wicked from his way, He -- the wicked -- in his iniquity doth die, And his blood from thy hand I require.

9 N evertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

And thou, when thou hast warned the wicked of his way, to turn back from it, And he hath not turned back from his way, He in his iniquity doth die, And thou thy soul hast delivered.

10 “ Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’

And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Rightly ye have spoken, saying: Surely our transgressions and our sins on us, And in them we are wasting away, How, then, do we live?

11 S ay to them: ‘ As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ The Fairness of God’s Judgment

Say unto them, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, I delight not in the death of the wicked, But -- in the turning of the wicked from his way, And he hath lived, Turn back, turn back, from your evil ways, Yea, why do ye die, O house of Israel?

12 “ Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’

And thou, son of man, say unto the sons of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous doth not deliver him in the day of his transgression, And the wickedness of the wicked, He doth not stumble for it in the day of his turning from his wickedness, And the righteous is not able to live in it in the day of his sinning.

13 W hen I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.

In My saying of the righteous: He surely liveth, And -- he hath trusted on his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, All his righteous acts are not remembered, And for his perversity that he hath done, For it he doth die.

14 A gain, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,

And in My saying to the wicked: Thou surely diest, And -- he hath turned back from his sin, And hath done judgment and righteousness,

15 i f the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

(The pledge the wicked restoreth, plunder he repayeth,) In the statutes of life he hath walked, So as not to do perversity, He surely liveth -- he doth not die.

16 N one of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

None of his sin that he hath sinned is remembered to him, Judgment and righteousness he hath done, He doth surely live.

17 “ Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair!

And the sons of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, As to them -- their way is not pondered.

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

In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity -- he dieth for it.

19 B ut when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it.

And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, And he hath done judgment and righteousness, by them he liveth.

20 Y et you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.” The Fall of Jerusalem

And ye have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, Each according to his ways do I judge you, O house of Israel.'

21 A nd it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!”

And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year -- in the tenth, in the fifth of the month -- of our removal, come in unto me doth one who is escaped from Jerusalem, saying, `The city hath been smitten.'

22 N ow the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. The Cause of Judah’s Ruin

And the hand of Jehovah hath been unto me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He openeth my mouth till the coming in unto me in the morning, and opened is my mouth, and I have not been silent again.

23 T hen the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

24 “ Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’

`Son of man, the inhabitants of these wastes on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying: Alone hath been Abraham -- and he possesseth the land, and we many -- to us hath the land been given for a possession.

25 “ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

Therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: With the blood ye do eat, And your eyes ye lift up unto your idols, And blood ye shed, and the land ye inherit!

26 Y ou rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another’s wives. Should you then possess the land?”’

Ye have stood on your sword, Ye have done abomination, Each the wife of his neighbour ye have defiled, And the land ye possess!

27 “ Say thus to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “ As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence.

Thus dost thou say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live -- do not they who in the wastes by the sword fall? And they who on the face of the field, To the beast I have given for food, And they who are in strongholds and in caves by pestilence die.

28 F or I will make the land most desolate, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through.

And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, And ceased hath the excellency of its strength, And desolated have been mountains of Israel, Without any one passing through.

29 T hen they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’ Hearing and Not Doing

And they have known that I Jehovah, In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, For all their abominations that they have done.

30 “ As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’

And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people who are speaking about thee, By the walls, and in openings of the houses, Have spoken one with another, each with his brother, Saying: Come in, I pray you, And hear what the word that cometh out from Jehovah.

31 S o they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.

And they come in unto thee as the coming in of a people, And they sit before thee -- My people, And have heard thy words, and they do them not, For doting loves with their mouth they are making, After their dishonest gain their heart is going.

32 I ndeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

And lo, thou to them as a singer of doting loves, A pleasant voice, and playing well on an instrument, And they have heard thy words, and they are not doing them.

33 A nd when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

And in its coming in -- lo, it hath come, And they have known that a prophet hath been in their midst!'