Ezekiel 33

1The word of the LORD came to me, saying:

2“Human one, speak to your people and say to them: When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land take one man from among them and appoint him as their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against the land, blows the horn, and warns the people, 4then anyone who hears the sound of the horn and does not take warning—if the sword comes and takes them away, their blood will be on their own head. 5They heard the sound of the horn and did not take warning; their blood will be on them. But one who takes warning will save their life.

6“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes one life from among them, that person is taken away in their guilt; but I will require their blood from the watchman’s hand.

7“Now you, human one: I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them from me. 8When I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked away from their way, that wicked person will die in their guilt, but I will require their blood from your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from their way, and they do not turn from their way, they will die in their guilt; but you will have saved your life.

10“And you, human one, say to the house of Israel: This is what you have said: ‘Surely our rebellions and our sins are upon us, and because of them we are wasting away. How then can we live?’ 11Say to them: As I live, declares the LORD GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?

12“And you, human one, say to your people: The righteousness of the righteous will not save them on the day of their rebellion, and the wickedness of the wicked will not cause them to stumble on the day they turn from their wickedness. Nor will the righteous be able to live by their righteousness on the day they sin. 13When I say to the righteous, ‘They will surely live,’ and they trust in their righteousness and do injustice, none of their righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the injustice they have done, they will die. 14But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and they turn from their sin and do justice and righteousness— 15if the wicked restore a pledge, repay what they have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life without doing injustice—they will surely live; they will not die. 16None of the sins they have committed will be remembered against them. They have done justice and righteousness; they will surely live.

17“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right,’ when it is their way that is not right. 18When the righteous turn from their righteousness and do injustice, they will die because of it. 19But when the wicked turn from their wickedness and do justice and righteousness, because of these they will live. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to your ways.”

21In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been struck down.”

22Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the fugitive came. He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning; my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

23The word of the LORD came to me, saying:

24“Human one, the inhabitants of these ruins on the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was one man, yet he possessed the land; but we are many, and the land has been given to us as a possession.’

25Therefore say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD: You eat meat with the blood, lift your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Shall you possess the land? 26You stand by your sword, commit abominations, and each of you defiles the wife of a neighbor. Shall you possess the land?

27“Say this to them: Thus says the LORD GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword; whoever is in the open field I will give to the wild animals to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and caves will die by pestilence. 28I will make the land a desolation and waste, and the pride of its strength will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, with no one passing through. 29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and waste because of all the abominations they have committed.

30“And you, human one, your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doorways of the houses. One speaks with another, each to their brother or sister, saying, ‘Please come and hear what word is coming from the LORD.’ 31They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people. They hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouths they speak desire, while their hearts go after their gain. 32Look, you are to them like a song of desire, beautifully voiced and well played on an instrument. They hear your words, but they do not do them. 33When this comes—and look, it is coming—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”