Ezekiel 3:14–22

¹⁴The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I left in bitterness and in an angry spirit, and the Lord’s hand was on me powerfully.^{w 15}I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were living by the Chebar Canal, and I sat there among them stunned for seven days.^x

EZEKIEL AS A WATCHMAN

¹⁶Now at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{y 17}“Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel.^z When you hear a word from my mouth, give them a warning from me.^{aa 18}If I say to the wicked person,^ab ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. ¹⁹But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.^{ac 20}Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly,^ad and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die.^ae If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. ²¹But if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have rescued yourself.”

²²The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain,^a and I will speak with you there.”^b