331 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 2 "Son of man , speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land , and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman , 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people , 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning , and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head . 5 'He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning ; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning , he would have delivered his life . 6 'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned , and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity ; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand .' 7 "Now as for you, son of man , I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel ; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 "When I say to the wicked , 'O wicked man , you will surely die ,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way , that wicked man shall die in his iniquity , but his blood I will require from your hand . 9 "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way , he will die in his iniquity , but you have delivered your life .
10 "Now as for you, son of man , say to the house of Israel , 'Thus you have spoken , saying , "Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive ?"' 11 "Say to them, ' As I live !' declares the Lord GOD , 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but rather e that the wicked turn from his way and live . Turn back , turn back from your evil ways ! Why then will you die , O house of Israel ?' 12 "And you, son of man , say to your fellow citizens , 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression , and as for the wickedness of the wicked , he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness ; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin .' 13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live , and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity , none e of his righteous deeds will be remembered ; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die . 14 "But when I say to the wicked , 'You will surely die ,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness , 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge , pays back what he has taken by robbery , walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity , he shall surely live ; he shall not die . 16 " None e of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness ; he shall surely live . 17 "Yet your fellow citizens say , 'The way of the Lord is not right ,' when it is their own way that is not right . 18 "When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity , then he shall die in it. 19 "But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness , he will live by them. 20 "Yet you say , ' The way of the Lord is not right .' O house of Israel , I will judge each of you according to his ways ."
21 Now in the twelfth e year of our exile , on the fifth of the tenth month , the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying , " The city has been taken ." 22 Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening , before the refugees came . And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning ; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless . 23 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying , 24 "Son of man , they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying , ' Abraham was only one , yet he possessed the land ; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession .' 25 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood . Should you then possess the land ? 26 "You rely on your sword , you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife . Should you then possess the land ?"' 27 "Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "As I live , surely e those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword , and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured , and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence . 28 "I will make the land a desolation and a waste , and the pride of her power will cease ; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through . 29 "Then they will know that I am the Lord , when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed ."'
30 "But as for you, son of man , your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses , speak to one another , each to his brother , saying , ' Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord .' 31 "They come to you as people come , and sit before you as My people and hear your words , but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth , and their heart goes after their gain . 32 "Behold , you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33 "So when it comes to pass -as surely it will-then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst ."
