[1] The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, [2] Son of man, speak to the
children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land,
and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for
their watchman; [3] if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow
the trumpet, and warn the people; [4] then whoever hears the sound of the
trumpet, and doesn`t take warning, if the sword come, and take him away,
his blood shall be on his own head. [5] He heard the sound of the trumpet,
and didn`t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken
warning, he would have delivered his soul. [6] But if the watchman sees the
sword come, and doesn`t blow the trumpet, and the people aren`t warned, and
the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in
his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman`s hand. [7] So
you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel;
therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. [8]
When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don`t
speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. [9] Nevertheless, if
you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn`t turn from
his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
[10] You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, Our
transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then
can we live? [11] Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way
and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die,
house of Israel? [12] You, son of man, tell the children of your people,
The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his
disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall
thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who
is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins. [13] When I
tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his
righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be
remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he
die. [14] Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn
from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; [15] if the wicked
restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in
the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he
shall not die. [16] None of his sins that he has committed shall be
remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he
shall surely live. [17] Yet the children of your people say, The way of the
Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. [18] When the
righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even
die therein. [19] When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that
which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. [20] Yet you say, The way
of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge you everyone after
his ways. [21] It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the
tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, that one who had escaped
out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck. [22] Now the
hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped
came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and
my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute. [23] The word of Yahweh came
to me, saying, [24] Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the
land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land:
but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. [25] Therefore tell
them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your
eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land? [26]
You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and you defile everyone his
neighbor`s wife: and shall you possess the land? [27] Thus shall you tell
them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the
waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will
I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds
and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. [28] I will make the land a
desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and
the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.
[29] Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a
desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which
they have committed. [30] As for you, son of man, the children of your
people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak
one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what
is the word that comes forth from Yahweh. [31] They come to you as the
people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your
words, but don`t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but
their heart goes after their gain. [32] Behold, you are to them as a very
lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an
instrument; for they hear your words, but they don`t do them. [33] When
this comes to pass, (behold, it comes,) then shall they know that a prophet
has been among them.
