¹The LORD ’s word 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 amongst them , and set him for their watchman ,

³if , when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people ,

⁴then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and doesn’t heed the warning , if the sword comes and takes him away , his blood will be on his own head .

⁵He heard the sound of the trumpet and didn’t take warning . His blood will be on him ; whereas if he had heeded the warning , he would have delivered his soul .

⁶But if the watchman sees the sword come and doesn’t blow the trumpet , and the people aren’t warned , and the sword comes and takes any person from amongst them , he is taken away in his iniquity , but his blood I will 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 from my mouth , and give them warnings from me .

⁸When I tell the wicked , ‘O wicked man , you will surely die ,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way , that wicked man will die in his iniquity , but I will require his blood at your hand .

⁹Nevertheless , if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it , and he doesn’t turn from his way ; he will die in his iniquity , but you have delivered your soul .

¹⁰“You , son of man , tell the house of Israel : ‘You say this , “Our transgressions and our sins are on us , and we pine away in them . How then can we live ?”’

¹¹Tell them , ‘“As I live ,” says the Lord GOD , “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but that the wicked turn from his way and live . Turn , turn 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 will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked , he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness ; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins .

¹³When I tell the righteous that he will surely live , if he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity , none of his righteous deeds will be remembered ; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed .

¹⁴Again , when I say to the wicked , “You will surely die ,” if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right ,

¹⁵if the wicked restore the pledge , give again that which he had taken by robbery , walk in the statutes of life , committing no iniquity , he will surely live . He will not die .

¹⁶None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him . He has done that which is lawful and right . He will surely live .

¹⁷“‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair;” but as for them , their way is not fair.

¹⁸When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity , he will even die therein.

¹⁹When the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right , he will live by it .

²⁰Yet you say , “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel , I will judge every one of you after his ways .’”

²¹In the twelfth year of our captivity , in the tenth month , in the fifth day of the month , one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me , saying, “The city has been defeated !”

²²Now the LORD ’s hand had been on me in the evening , before he who had 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 longer mute.

²³The LORD ’s word came to me , saying ,

²⁴“Son of man , those who inhabit the 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 .’

²⁵Therefore tell them , ‘The Lord GOD says : “You eat with the blood , and lift up your eyes to your idols , and shed blood . So should you possess the land?

²⁶You stand on your sword , you work abomination , and every one of you defiles his neighbour ’s wife. So should you possess the land?”’

²⁷“You shall tell them , ‘The Lord GOD says : “As I live , surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword . I will give whoever is in the open field to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence .

²⁸I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment . The pride of her power will cease . The mountains of Israel will be desolate , so that no one will pass through .

²⁹Then they will know that I am the LORD , 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 about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses , and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying , ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from the LORD .’

³¹They come to you as the people come , 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 .

³²Behold , 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 they will know that a prophet has been amongst them .”