Ezekiel 33

The Watchman’s Responsibility

The Watchman Warned

1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one man from among them and make him their watchman,

3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,

4 then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but ignores the warning and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take the warning, so his blood is on himself. But if he had taken the warning, he would have saved his life.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes someone away, that person is taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman responsible for his blood.

7 So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.

8 If I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not speak up to warn him to turn from his way, that wicked man will die in his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his blood.

9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn, he will die in his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Life or Death by One’s Ways

10 Now you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: This is what you have been saying, ‘Our wrongs and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How can we live,’

11 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel,’

12 You, son of man, say to your people: The righteousness of a righteous man will not save him on the day he turns away, and the wickedness of a wicked man will not cause him to fall on the day he turns from it. A righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day he sins.

13 When I tell the righteous that he will surely live, but he trusts in his righteousness and commits injustice, none of his righteous acts will be remembered, he will die because of the injustice he committed.

14 But when I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,

15 if he returns what he took as a pledge, gives back what he stole, walks in the statutes of life without committing injustice, he will surely live; he will not die.

16 None of the sins he committed will be remembered against him. He practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely live.

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

18 When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will die because of it.

19 But when a wicked man turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live because of it.

20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.

Jerusalem Falls

21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day, a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem, saying, “The city has fallen.”

22 Now the hand of the LORD had been on me the evening before the fugitive came, and He had opened my mouth before the man arrived in the morning. So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer silent.

23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

24 “Son of man, the people living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he inherited the land. But we are many, the land has been given to us as a possession.’

25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: You eat meat with blood still in it, lift your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, should you then possess the land,

26 You rely on your sword, commit disgusting acts, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife, should you then possess the land,’

27 Say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: As I live, those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword, those who are in the open field I will give to wild animals to be eaten, and those who are in strongholds and caves will die by plague.

28 I will make the land a desolate waste. Her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will pass through.

29 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolate waste because of all the disgusting acts they committed.’

Hearing but Not Doing

30 As for you, son of man, your people talk about you near the walls and in the doorways of the houses. They say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’

31 They come to you as people usually do and sit before you as My people. They hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they show much love, but their hearts chase after profit.

32 Look, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice who plays skillfully on an instrument. They hear your words, but they do not do them.

33 But when it comes, and it will come, then they will know that a prophet has been among them.