Ezekiel

33 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

2 Son of man, Speak unto the sons of thy people and thou shalt say unto them, A land—when I bring upon it a sword,—And the people of the land shall take one man out of their whole number, and appoint him for them as watchman;

3 And he shall see the sword coming upon the land,—and shall blow with the horn and warn the people

4 Then as for him who really heard the sound of the horn and took not warning The sword indeed hath come and taken him away,—His blood upon his own head shall remain:—

5 The sound of the horn he heard but took not warning, His blood upon himself shall remain,—Whereas had he taken warning his own soul he should have delivered.

6 But as for the watchman—When he seeth the sword coming And hath not blown with the horn And the people have not been warned, And the sword hath come and taken away from among them any person He for his iniquity hath been taken away, But his blood at the hand of the watchman will I require.

7 Thou therefore, Son of man, A watchman have I appointed thee to the house of Israel, So then thou shalt hear at my mouth a message, and shalt warn them from me.

8 When I say to the lawless man, O lawless man, thou shalt surely die, And thou have not spoken to warn the lawless man from his way He the lawless man for his iniquity shall die, But his blood—at thy hand will I demand.

9 But as for thyself, When thou hast warned a lawless man from his way to turn therefrom, And he hath not turned from his way He for his own iniquity shall die, But thou hast delivered thine own life.

10 Thou therefore, Son of man, Say unto the house of Israel, Thus have ye spoken saying: When our transgressions and our sins are upon us,—and for them we are melting away How then can we live?

11 Say unto them, As I live Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely I can take no pleasure in the death of the lawless man, But that the lawless man turn from his way and live,—Turn ye, turn ye from your wicked ways, For wherefore should ye die, O house of Israel?

12 Thou therefore, Son of man Say unto the sons of thy people—The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, And as for the lawlessness of the lawless man He shall not stumble thereby, in the day of his return from his lawlessness,—Nor shall the righteous man be able to live thereby in the day of his sin.

13 When I say of the righteous man, He shall surely live but he hath trusted in his righteousness and committed perversity None of his righteous deeds shall be mentioned, But by his perversity which he hath committed—thereby shall he die.

14 And when I say to the lawless man, Thou shalt surely die but he shall turn from his sin, and do justice and righteousness:

15 The debt-pledge the lawless man shall restore, Plunder shall pay back, In the statutes of life hath walked, so as not to commit perversity He shall surely live, he shall not die:—

16 None of his sins which he hath committed shall be called to mind against him,—Justice and righteousness hath he done, He shall surely live.

17 And can the sons of thy people say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Nay! but as for them their way will not be equal!

18 When the righteous man shall turn from his righteousness and commit perversity Then shall he die for them;

19 But when the lawless man shall turn from his lawlessness, and do justice and righteousness Upon them shall he live.

20 And can ye then say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Every man—according to his own ways [so] will I judge you, O house of Israel!

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month of our exile that there came unto me one that had escaped out of Jerusalem saying, Smitten is the city!

22 Now the hand of Yahweh had come unto me in the evening before the coming of him who had escaped, and he had opened my mouth, by the time that he came to me in the morning,—so my mouth was opened, and I was dumb no longer.

23 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:

24 Son of man, These inhabitants of waste places on the soil of Israel are saying thus, One was Abraham Yet he inherited the land,—But we are many, To us is the land given as an inheritance.

25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh. With the blood ye do eat And your eyes ye do lift up unto your manufactured gods And blood ye do shed; And the land shall ye inherit?

26 Ye men have taken your stand by your sword, Ye women have wrought abomination, And every man—with the wife of his neighbour have ye defiled yourselves; And the land shall ye inherit?

27 Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, As I live surely they who are in the waste places by the sword shall fall, And him who is on the face of the field to the wild beast have I given to be devoured,—And they who are in the mountain holds and in the pits by pestilence shall die;

28 And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, So shall be made to cease the pride of her strength,—And the mountains of Israel shall be too desolate for any to pass through.

29 So shall they know that I am Yahweh,—When I make the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 Thou therefore, Son of man, The sons of thy people who are talking against thee Near the walls and in the entrances of the houses are speaking one with another, every man with his brother saying, Come in, we pray you, and hear, what is the word that is coming forth from Yahweh;

31 That they may come unto thee as people do come And may sit before thee [as] my people, And they will hear thy words, But the words themselves will they not do,—though fond with their mouths they seem to be, After their unjust gain their heart is going.

32 And lo! thou art to them—As a bewitching song, Of one with a beautiful voice And skilfully touching the strings,—So will they hear thy words, And yet be going to do none of them.

33 But when it cometh Lo! it is coming! Then shall they know that a prophet hath been in their midst.