Ezekiel 33:1–20

EZEKIEL AS ISRAEL’S WATCHMAN

33The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, speak to your people and tell them, ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land select a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman. ³And suppose he sees the sword coming against the land and blows his ram’s horn^h to warn the people. ⁴Then, if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but ignores the warning,ⁱ and the sword comes and takes him away, his death will be his own fault.^{B 5}Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but ignored the warning, his death is his own fault.^C If he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ⁶However, suppose the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn’t blow the trumpet, so that the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives. Then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

⁷“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.^a When you hear a word from my mouth, give them a warning from me. ⁸If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’^b but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. ⁹But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.

¹⁰“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘You have said this: “Our transgressions and our sins are heavy on us, and we are wasting away because of them!^c How then can we survive?” ’^{d 11}Tell them, ‘As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live.^e Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?’

¹²“Now, son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him on the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked person cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person won’t be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins. ¹³When I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, but he trusts in his righteousness and acts unjustly, then none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the injustice he has committed.^f

¹⁴“ ‘So when I tell the wicked person, “You will surely die,” but he repents of his sin and does what is just and right—¹⁵he returns collateral, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life^g without committing injustice—he will certainly live; he will not die. ¹⁶None of the sins he committed will be held^A against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.^h

¹⁷“ ‘But your people say, “The Lord’s way isn’t fair,”ⁱ even though it is their own way that isn’t fair. ¹⁸When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will die for it. ¹⁹But if a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰Yet you say, “The Lord’s way isn’t fair.” I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.’ ”