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

Yahweh’s word came to 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 your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, 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, when he sees the sword come on the land, he 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 whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on 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 didn’t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had 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 sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and take any 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 you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning 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 tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your 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

Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your 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?”’

You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can 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?’

Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, 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 will you die, 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.

You, son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.

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 tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein 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,

Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

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 which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely 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 that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely 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 your 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 turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even 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.

When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

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 you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you 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.”

In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck.

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 Yahweh’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.

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

Yahweh’s word came to 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 who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

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 tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you 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?”’

You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife: and shall you 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.

You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who 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.

I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that no one 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.”’

Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, 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.’

As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes out from Yahweh.

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.

They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their 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.

Behold, 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 don’t do them.

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

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