Yechezkel 33 יחזקאל ל״ג

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman:

if when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the shofar, and warn the people;

then whoever hears the sound of the shofar, and takes no warning; if the sword comes, and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

He heard the sound of the shofar, and took no warning; his blood shall be upon him. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.

But if the watchman sees the sword comes, and does not blow the shofar, and the people are not warned; if the sword comes, and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman to the house of Yisra᾽el; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

But if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast saved thy life.

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak to the house of Yisra᾽el; Thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

Say to 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, O house of Yisra᾽el?

And thou, son of man, say to the children of thy people. The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble for that in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for that in the day that he sins.

When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for that.

Again, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had robbed, follow the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered for him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is unfair: but it is their way that is unfair.

When the righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, then he shall die in those.

But if the wicked man turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right he shall live in those.

Yet you say, The way of the Lord is unfair. O house of Yisra᾽el, I will judge you every man after his ways.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Yerushalayim came to me, saying, The city is smitten.

Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, before the fugitive came; and had opened my mouth, by the time he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer dumb.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places of the land of Yisra᾽el speak, saying, Avraham was one man, and yet he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God; You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?

You stand upon your sword, you carry out disgusting deeds, and you defile every man his neighbour’s wife: and shall you possess the land?

Say thou to them as follows: Thus says the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

For I will make the land most desolate, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Yisra᾽el shall be blighted, so that none shall pass through.

Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a total blight because of their disgusting deeds which they have committed.

As for thee, son of man, the children of thy people who talk against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes from the Lord.

And they come to thee as the people come, and they sit before thee, my people, and they hear thy words, but they do not carry them out; for it is become flute music in their mouths, whilst their heart is set on unjust gain.

And, lo, thou art to them like a song for flutes by one who has a pleasant voice, and can play the instrument well: for they hear the words, but they do not carry them out.

But when it comes to pass, (see, it is coming,) then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.