Eze 33 | ESV | STEP | The word of the Lord came to me:

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^a“Son of man, speak to ^byour people and say to them, If ^cI bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^dwatchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^eblows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, ^fhis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 ^gHe heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 ^hBut if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, ⁱthat person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

7 ^j“So you, ^kson of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. ^lWhenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 ^mIf I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, ⁿand you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, ^othat wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 ^pBut if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, ^qthat person shall die in his iniquity, ^rbut you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

10 “And you, ^sson of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^twe rot away because of them. ^uHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, ^vAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^wI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^xturn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^yfor why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 ^z“And you, son of man, say to ^aayour people, ^abThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ^acand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^adand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness ^{▼▼Hebrew by it} when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^afif he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, ^agthough I say to the wicked, ^ah‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^aiif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked ^ajrestores the pledge, ^akgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^alin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 ^amNone of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet ^anyour people say, ^ao‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 ^apWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And ^aqwhen the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^arI will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Struck Down

21 In the ^astwelfth year ^atof our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^aua fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^av“The city has been struck down.” 22 ^awNow ^axthe hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 ^ay“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ^azwaste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ^ba‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ^bbwe are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^bcYou eat flesh with the blood and ^bdlift up your eyes to your idols and ^beshed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 ^bfYou rely on the sword, ^bgyou commit abominations, and ^bheach of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^biAs I live, surely those who are in ^bjthe waste places shall fall by ^bkthe sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ^blthe beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ^bmstrongholds and in caves shall die by ^bnpestilence. 28 ^boAnd I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ^bpher proud might shall come to an end, and ^bqthe mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 ^brThen they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

30 “As for you, ^bsson of man, ^btyour people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 ^buAnd they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ^bvwith lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and ^bwplays ^{▼▼Hebrew like the singing of lustful songs with a beautiful voice and one who plays} well on an instrument, for ^bythey hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 ^bzWhen this comes—and come it will!— ^cathen they will know that a prophet has been among them.”