^33:8When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’⁹ and you do not warn¹⁰ the wicked about his behavior,¹¹ the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.¹²^33:9But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior,¹³ and he refuses to change,¹⁴ he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

^33:10“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us,¹⁵ and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” ’ ^33:11Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior¹⁶ and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds!¹⁷ Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

^33:12“And you, son of man, say to your people,¹⁸ ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels.¹⁹ As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it.²⁰ The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness²¹ if he sins.’²²^33:13Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. ^33:14Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. ^33:15He²³ returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life,²⁴ committing no iniquity. He will certainly live—he will not die.

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Footnotes

9 The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.
10 Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”
11 Heb “way.”
12 Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”
13 Heb “from his way to turn from it.”
14 Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”
15 Heb “(are) upon us.”
16 Heb “turn from his way.”
17 Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.
18 Heb “the sons of your people.”
19 Heb “in the day of his rebellion.” The statement envisions a godly person rejecting what is good and becoming sinful. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 2:.
20 Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”
21 Heb “by it.”
22 Heb “in the day of his sin.”
23 Heb “the wicked one.”
24 Heb “and in the statutes of life he walks.”