The Watchman’s Duty

33 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the ^(A)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 ^(B)blows the ^[a]horn and warns the people, ⁴ then ^[b]someone who hears the sound of the horn but ^(C)does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his ^(D)blood will be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have ^(E)saved his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is ^(F)taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will ^[c]require his ^(G)blood from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, I have ^[d](H)appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a ^[e]message from My mouth and give them a ^(I)warning from Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will ^(J)certainly die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way, that wicked person shall die for his wrongdoing, but I will ^[f]require his blood from your hand. ⁹ But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he ^(K)does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have ^(L)saved your life.

¹⁰ “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have ^[g]said: “Surely our offenses and our sins are upon us, and we are ^(M)rotting away in them; ^(N)how then can we ^[h]survive?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘^(O)As I live!’ declares the Lord ^[i]God, ‘I take ^(P)no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked ^(Q)turn from his way and live. ^(R)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?’ ¹² And you, son of man, say to ^[j]your fellow citizens, ‘The ^(S)righteousness of a righteous one will not save him on the day of his offense, and as for the wickedness of a wicked one, he will ^(T)not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live ^[k]by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he ^(U)commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but for that same injustice of his which he has committed he will die. ¹⁴ But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and he ^(V)turns from his sin and practices ^(W)justice and righteousness, ¹⁵ if a wicked person returns a pledge, ^(X)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(Y)statutes ^[l]which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. ^16 (Z)None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall certainly live.

¹⁷ “Yet ^[m]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 ^(AA)commits injustice, then he shall die in ^[n]it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘^(AB)The way of the Lord is not right.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

²¹ Now ^(AC)in the ^(AD)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “^(AE)The city has been ^[o]taken.” ²² Now the ^(AF)hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He ^(AG)opened my mouth ^[p]at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(AH)opened and I was no longer ^[q]speechless.

²³ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, they who ^(AI)live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘^(AJ)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(AK)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You eat meat with the ^(AL)blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(AM)Should you then possess the land? ²⁶ You ^[r](AN)rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ ²⁷ You shall say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will ^(AO)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^[s]open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(AP)caves will die of plague. ²⁸ And I will ^(AQ)make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ^(AR)pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted 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, ^[t]your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, ‘^(AS)Come now and hear what the ^[u]message is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ And 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 ^(AT)mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful ^(AU)gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a ^(AV)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. ³³ So when it ^(AW)comes—^[v]as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the music director; ^[a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.