Ezekiel 3:14–22

¹⁴The Spirit^c then lifted me up^d and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^e on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.^f And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days^g—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{h 17}“Son of man, I have made you a watchmanⁱ for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.^{j 18}When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,^k’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for^b their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{l 19}But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn^m from their wickednessⁿ or from their evil ways, they will die^o for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.^p

²⁰“Again, when a righteous person turns^q from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block^r before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{s 21}But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.^t”

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