Ezekiel
Chapter 33
1 God spoke to me again, saying,
2 Human, tell your people, “When God sends war to a country, and the people choose someone from their area to be their lookout:
3 If he sees the sword coming to the land and blows the trumpet to alert the people;
4 If someone hears the trumpet but does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes them away, their own blood is on their head.
5 He heard the trumpet but ignored the warning; it will be his own fault. But the one who listens to the warning will save himself.
6 If the guard sees danger coming and doesn’t sound the alarm, and the people aren’t warned; if danger comes and takes someone away, that person is taken because of their own wrongs; but I will hold the guard responsible for their death.
7 You, human, I have made you a lookout for Israel; so, listen to what I say and tell them my message.
8 When I tell a bad person, “You will definitely die,” if you don’t warn them to turn from their bad ways, they will die because of their sins; but I will hold you responsible for their death.
9 However, if you warn the bad person to stop doing wrong and he doesn’t stop, he will die because of his sins; but you will have saved yourself.
10 So you, human, tell the people of Israel: You say, ‘Our wrongs and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How can we live?’
11 Tell them, as surely as I live, says God, I don’t enjoy seeing the wicked die; instead, I want the wicked to stop their bad behavior and live. Stop, stop your evil ways; why do you want to die, O people of Israel?
12 So, you human, tell your people: A good person’s good acts won’t save him when he does wrong, and a bad person won’t be ruined by his badness on the day he stops doing bad. Also, a good person can’t stay alive because of his good acts if he sins.
13 When I tell a good person they will live, if they depend on their goodness but do wrong, none of their good acts will be remembered. Because of the wrong they did, they will die.
14 When I tell a bad person they will die but they stop sinning and do what is fair and right;
15 If a bad person gives back what he promised, returns what he stole, follows the rules for living right, and does not sin, he will surely live and not die.
16 None of the sins he committed will be remembered against him: he did what is legal and right; he will surely live.
17 Your people’s children say, “God’s way is not fair.” But really, their own way is not fair.
18 When a good person stops doing what is right and does wrong, they will die because of it.
19 If a bad person stops doing wrong and does what is fair and right, they will live because of it.
20 But you say, “God’s way is not fair.” O people of Israel, I will judge each of you according to your actions.
21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, on the tenth month and the fifth day, someone who escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured.”
22 That evening, God’s power was on me before the escapee arrived. God had made me able to speak by the time he came in the morning, so I could talk again.
23 God spoke to me, saying,
24 Human, the people living in the ruins of Israel say, “Abraham was alone, and he got the land: but we are many; we are given the land as our own.”
25 Tell them this: God says, “You eat meat with blood, look up to your idols, and kill people: do you think you can own the land?
26 You rely on your swords, do terrible things, and each of you dishonors another’s wife: do you think you will then get the land?
27 Tell them this: God says, “As I live, surely those in the ruins will die by the sword, the one in the open field I will give to the animals to eat, and those in strongholds and caves will die of disease.”
28 I will make the land very empty, and its proud power will end; the mountains of Israel will be empty, so no one will pass through.
29 Then they will realize that I am God when I have made the land very empty because of all the terrible things they have done.
30 You, person, your people are talking about you near the walls and in their homes. They say to each other, “Come, let’s hear the message from God.”
31 They come to you like a crowd does, and they sit before you as if they’re my people. They listen to your words but won’t follow them. They act loving with their words, but their heart chases after greed.
32 You are like a beautiful song to them, sung by someone with a nice voice who plays an instrument well: they hear your words, but they do not follow them.
33 When this happens—and it will happen—then they will understand that a prophet was with them.