Ezekiel 33
Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman
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 ablows 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, ahis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 aHe 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 aBut 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, athat person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
7 a“So you, bson of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. aWhenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 aIf I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, aand you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, athat wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 aBut if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, athat person shall die in his iniquity, bbut you will have delivered your soul.
Why Will You Die, Israel?
10 “And you, ason of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and bwe rot away because of them. cHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, aAs I live, declares the Lord God, bI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; cturn back, turn back from your evil ways, cfor why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 a“And you, son of man, say to byour people, cThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, dand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, cand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet aif 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, athough I say to the wicked, b‘You shall surely die,’ yet cif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked arestores the pledge, bgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks cin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 aNone 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 ayour people say, b‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 aWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And awhen 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, aI will judge each of you according to his ways.”
Jerusalem Struck Down
21 In the atwelfth year bof our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ca fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, d“The city has been struck down.” 22 aNow bthe 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 a“Son of man, the inhabitants of these bwaste places in the land of Israel keep saying, c‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but dwe are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: aYou eat flesh with the blood and blift up your eyes to your idols and cshed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 aYou rely on the sword, byou commit abominations, and beach of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: aAs I live, surely those who are in bthe waste places shall fall by cthe sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to cthe beasts to be devoured, and those who are in dstrongholds and in caves shall die by cpestilence. 28 aAnd I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and bher proud might shall come to an end, and cthe mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 aThen 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, ason of man, byour 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 aAnd 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 bwith 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 aplays well on an instrument, for bthey hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 aWhen this comes—and come it will!—bthen they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.