Ezekiel 33

The Watchman and His Message

1 Again the word of the Lord came to 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,3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people,4 then 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.5 He 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.6 But 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 watchmans hand.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.8 When 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.9 Nevertheless 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.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?11 Say 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 Gods Judgment

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.13 When 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.14 Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die, if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,15 if 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.16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall 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!18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it.19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it.20 Yet 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

21 And 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!22 Now 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 Judahs Ruin

23 Then the word of the Lord came to 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.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?26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one anothers wives. Should you then possess the land?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.28 For 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.29 Then 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

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.31 So 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.32 Indeed 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.33 And when this comes to passsurely it will comethen they will know that a prophet has been among them.

EZEKIEL 33

The [Lord] Appoints Ezekiel //To Stand Watch

(Ezekiel 3.16-21)

1 The [Lord] said:

2 Ezekiel, son of man, warn your people by saying:
Someday, I, the [Lord], may send an enemy to invade a country. And suppose its people choose someone to stand watch 3 and to sound a warning signal when the enemy is seen coming.

4-5 If any of these people hear the signal and ignore it, they will be killed in battle. But it will be their own fault, because they could have escaped if they had paid attention.

6 But suppose the person watching fails to sound the warning signal. The enemy will attack and kill some of the sinful people in that country, and I, the [Lord], will hold that person responsible for their death.
7 Ezekiel, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me. 8 When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death.

9 If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.

The [Lord] Is Always Fair

(Ezekiel 18.21-30)

10 The [Lord] said:
Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me.

11 Tell them that as surely as I am the living [Lord] God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me.

12 Tell them that when good people start sinning, all the good they did in the past cannot save them from being punished. And remind them that when wicked people stop sinning, their past sins will be completely forgiven, and they won't be punished.

13 Suppose I promise good people that they will live, then later they start sinning and believe they will be saved by the good they did in the past. These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins. Their good deeds will be forgotten.
14 Suppose I warn wicked people that they will die because of their sins, and they stop sinning and start doing right. 15 For example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my Law, they will live.

16 Their past sins will be forgiven, and they will live because they have done right.
17 Ezekiel, your people accuse me of being unfair. But they are the ones who are unfair. 18 If good people start doing evil, they will be put to death, because they have sinned. 19 And if wicked people stop sinning and start doing right, they will save themselves from punishment.

20 But the Israelites still think I am unfair. So warn them that they will be punished for what they have done.

The News of Jerusalem's Fall

21  t Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, a refugee who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me on the fifth day of the tenth month.t He told me that the city had fallen.

22 The evening before this man arrived at my house, the [Lord] had taken control of me. So when the man came to me the next morning, I could once again speak.t

What Will Happen //to Those Left in Israel?

23 Then the [Lord] said:

24 Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in the ruined cities of Israel are saying, “Abraham was just one man, and the [Lord] gave him this whole land of Israel. There are many of us, and so this land must be ours.”

25 So, Ezekiel, tell them I am saying:
How can you think the land is still yours? You eat meat with blood in it and worship idols. You commit murder

26 and spread violence throughout the land. Everything you do is wicked; you are even unfaithful in marriage. And you claim the land is yours!
27 As surely as I am the living [Lord] God, you people in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Those of you living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals, and those hiding in caves and on rocky cliffs will die from deadly diseases. 28 I will make the whole country an empty wasteland and crush the power in which you take such pride. Even the mountains will be bare, and no one will try to cross them.

29 I will punish you because of your sins, and I will turn your nation into a barren desert. Then you will know that I am the [Lord].

The People Listen, //but Don't Change

The [Lord] said:

32 They treat you as though you were merely singing love songs or playing music. They listen, but don't do anything you say.
33 Soon they will be punished, just as you warned, and they will know that a prophet has been among them.