Ezekiel 33

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them: A land upon which I bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man from among them and set him for themselves as a watchman,

and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and blows the trumpet and gives the people a sign —

then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take heed, and the sword comes and overtakes him, his blood shall be upon his own head.

Because he heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take heed, his blood shall be upon himself; but this other, because he took heed, delivered his own life.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not give the sign with the trumpet, and the people do not take heed, and the sword comes and takes a life from among them, that one was taken because of his own iniquity, yet I will require the blood at the hand of the watchman.

And you, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth.

When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the ungodly from his way, that lawless one shall die in his lawlessness, but his blood I will require at your hand.

But if you have forewarned the ungodly of his way, that he should turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness, but you have delivered your own life.

And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying, Our errors and our iniquities are upon us, and in them we waste away; and how shall we live?

Say to them: As I live, thus says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the ungodly, but rather that the ungodly turn from his way and live. Turn, turn back from your way; and why will you die, O house of Israel?

Say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day that he goes astray, and the lawlessness of the ungodly shall not harm him in the day that he turns from his lawlessness; and the righteous shall not be able to be saved.

When I say to the righteous, This one has trusted in his righteousness, and he commits lawlessness, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has done, in it he shall die.

And when I say to the ungodly, You shall surely die, and he turns from his sin and does judgment and righteousness,

and restores the pledge and repays what he has seized, and walks in the ordinances of life so as to do no unrighteousness — he shall surely live and shall not die.

None of the sins that he has sinned shall be remembered, because he has done judgment and righteousness; by them he shall live.

Yet the sons of your people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight; but it is their own way that is not straight.

When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits acts of lawlessness, he shall die in them.

And when the sinner turns from his lawlessness and does judgment and righteousness, by these he shall live.

And this is what you said: The way of the Lord is not straight. I will judge you, each according to his ways, O house of Israel.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifth of the month of our captivity, that one who had escaped came to me from Jerusalem, saying, The city has been taken.

Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and he opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth having been opened, it was closed no more.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Son of man, those who dwell in the desolated places upon the land of Israel say: Abraham was but one, and he took possession of the land; and we are many — to us the land has been given as a possession.

Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord, the Lord.

As I live, surely those in the desolated places shall fall by the sword, and those upon the face of the plain shall be given to the beasts of the field for food, and those in the strongholds and those in the caves I will kill with pestilence.

And I will make the land desolate, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate, because none passes through.

And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desolate, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have done.

And you, son of man — the sons of your people are those who talk about you beside the walls and in the gateways of the houses; and they speak, each to his brother, saying, Let us come together and hear what goes forth from the Lord.

They come to you as a people gathers together, and they sit before you and hear your words, but they will not do them; for there is falsehood in their mouth, and their heart goes after their defilements.

And you are to them like the sound of a sweet-toned, well-tuned harp; and they will hear your words, but they will not do them.

And when it comes, they will say, Behold, it has come; and they shall know that a prophet was in their midst.