Ezekiel 33

¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

² ‘Son of man, speak to the members of your nation. Say to them, “When I send the sword against a country, the people of that country select one of themselves and post him as a sentry;

³ if he sees the sword coming against the country, he sounds his horn to alert the people.

⁴ If someone hears the sound of the horn, but pays no attention, the sword will overtake him and destroy him; he will have been responsible for his own death.

⁵ He has heard the sound of the horn and paid no attention; his death will be his own responsibility. But the life of someone who pays attention to the warning will be secure.

⁶ “If, however, the sentry has seen the sword coming but has not blown his horn, and so the people are not alerted and the sword overtakes them and destroys one of them, the latter shall indeed die for his sin, but I will hold the sentry responsible for his death.”

⁷ ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name.

⁸ If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

⁹ If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.

¹⁰ ‘Son of man, say to the House of Israel, “You are continually saying: Our sins and crimes weigh heavily on us; we are wasting away because of them. How are we to go on living?”

¹¹ Say to them, “As I live – it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks – I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man, but in the turning back of a wicked man who changes his ways to win life. Come back, come back from your evil ways. Why are you so anxious to die, House of Israel?”

¹² ‘And you, son of man, say to the members of your nation, “The integrity of an upright man will not save him once he has chosen to sin; the wickedness of a wicked man will no longer condemn him once he renounces wickedness, nor will an upright man live on the strength of his integrity once he has chosen to sin.

¹³ If I say to an upright man: You are to live, and then, trusting in his own integrity, he turns to evil, all his integrity will no longer be remembered; because he has sinned, he shall die.

¹⁴ If, however, I say to a wicked man: You are to die, and he renounces his sins and does what is lawful and right,

¹⁵ if he returns pledges, restores what he has stolen, keeps the laws that give life and stops committing sin – he shall live, and will not die.

¹⁶ All his previous sins will no longer be remembered – he has done what is lawful and right; he shall live.

¹⁷ “The members of your nation object: What the Lord does is unjust; but it is what you do that is unjust.

¹⁸ When an upright man renounces his integrity and commits sin, he dies for it.

¹⁹ And when a wicked man renounces his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, because of this he lives.

²⁰ You object: What the Lord does is unjust; but I mean to judge each of you by what he does, House of Israel.”‘

²¹ In the twelfth year of our captivity, on the fifth day of the tenth month,[*a] a fugitive arrived from Jerusalem and said to me, ‘The city has been taken’.

²² Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the fugitive arrived; he had opened my mouth before the man came to me the next morning; my mouth had been opened and I was dumb no longer.[*b]

²³ The word of Yahweh was then addressed to me as follows,

²⁴ ‘Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel say, “Abraham was alone when he was given possession of this land. Now we are many and we hold the country as our domain.”

²⁵ ‘Very well, tell them, “The Lord Yahweh says this: You eat blood, you raise your eyes to your idols, you shed blood; are you likely to keep possession of the land?

²⁶ You rely on your swords, you engage in filthy practices, you each commit adultery with your neighbour’s wife; are you likely to retain possession of the land?”

²⁷ Tell them this, “The Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, I swear it, those in the ruins will fall to the sword, those in the countryside I will give to wild animals to devour, those in strongholds and caves will die of plague.

²⁸ I intend to reduce the land to desert and desolation and it will no longer take pride in its strength. The mountains of Israel will be deserted and no one will pass that way again.

²⁹ And so men will learn that I am Yahweh, when I reduce the land to desert and desolation on account of all their filthy practices.”

³⁰ ‘Son of man, the members of your nation are talking about you on the ramparts and in doorways. They keep saying, “Come and hear the word that has come from Yahweh”.

³¹ They throng towards you; my people sit down in front of you and listen to your words, but they do not act on them. They cannot tell the truth and their hearts are set on dishonest gain.

³² As far as they are concerned, you are like a love song beautifully sung to music. They listen to your words, but no one puts them into practice.

³³ When the thing takes place – and it is beginning now – they will learn that there has been a prophet among them.’