1 T he Word of the Lord came to me saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 “ 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,

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them all, and set him for their watchman:

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

if he see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4 t hen 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.

then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 H e 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.

He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood is upon him: whereas had he taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.

6 B ut 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.’

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take a person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 “ 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.

So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 W hen 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.

When I say unto the wicked, Wicked, thou shalt certainly die; and thou speakest not to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

9 B ut 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

But if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 “ 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?”’

And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how then should we live?

11 S ay 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?’

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 N ow, 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.

And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth.

13 W hen 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.

When I say to the righteous that he shall certainly live, and he trusteth to his righteousness and doeth what is wrong, none of his righteous acts shall be remembered; but in his unrighteousness which he hath done, in it shall he die.

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

And when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die, and he turneth from his sin, and doeth judgment and justice;

15 i f 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.

if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, doing nothing that is wrong; he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

16 N one 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.

None of his sins which he hath committed shall be remembered against him: he hath done judgment and justice; he shall certainly live.

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

Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

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

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and doeth what is wrong, then he shall die therein.

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

And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall live for these things.

20 Y et 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

Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

21 O n 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.”

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

22 N ow 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

Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before he that had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth against his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

23 T hen the Word of the Lord came to me saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

24 “ 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.’

Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited this land, and we are many: the land is given us for a possession.

25 S o 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?

Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land?

26 Y ou 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?”’

Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife; and shall ye possess the land?

27 T ell 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.

Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I live, verily they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

28 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.

And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolated, so that none shall pass through.

29 T hen 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.”’

And they shall know that I Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 “ 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.’

And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people keep talking of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah.

31 T hey 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.

And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not; for with their mouth they shew much love, their heart goeth after their dishonest gain.

32 T hey 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.

And behold, thou art unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not.

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

And when this cometh to pass (behold, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.