¹⁷ In the ^(A)twelfth year, on the ^(B)fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, ^(C)lament for the hordes of Egypt and ^(D)bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the ^(E)netherworld, with those who go down to the pit;

²⁰ They shall fall in the midst of those who are killed by the sword. ^[a]She is turned over to the sword; they have ^(G)dragged her and all her hordes away. ²¹ The ^(H)strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol: ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.’

²² “^(I)Assyria is there and all her company; ^[b]her graves are all around ^[c]her. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, ²³ whose ^(J)graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, who ^[d]spread terror in the land of the living.

²⁴ “^(K)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the ^(L)lower parts of the earth, who inflicted their terror on the ^(M)land of the living, and ^(N)bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵ They have made a ^(O)bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, killed by the sword (although their terror was ^[e]inflicted on the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; ^[f]they were put in the midst of the slain.

²⁶ “^(P)Meshech, ^(Q)Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves ^[g]surround them. All of them were killed by the sword ^(R)uncircumcised, though they inflicted their terror on the land of the living. ^27 (S)Nor do they lie beside the fallen ^[h](T)heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were placed under their heads; but the punishment for their ^(U)wrongdoing rested on their bones, though the terror of these ^[i]heroes was once in the land of the living. ²⁸ But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those killed by the sword.

²⁹ “There also is ^(V)Edom, its kings and all its ^[j]princes, who ^[k]despite all their might are laid with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰ “There also are the ^[l]chiefs of the ^(W)north, all of them, and all the ^(X)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

³¹ “These Pharaoh will see, and he will ^(Y)find consolation regarding all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God. ³² “Though I inflicted the terror of him on the land of the living, yet he will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised along with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.

The Watchman’s Duty

33 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the ^(Z)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 ^(AA)blows the ^[m]horn and warns the people, ⁴ then ^[n]someone who hears the sound of the horn but ^(AB)does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his ^(AC)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 ^(AD)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 ^(AE)taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will ^[o]require his ^(AF)blood from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, I have ^[p](AG)appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a ^[q]message from My mouth and give them a ^(AH)warning from Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will ^(AI)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 ^[r]require his blood from your hand. ⁹ But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he ^(AJ)does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have ^(AK)saved your life.

¹⁰ “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have ^[s]said: “Surely our offenses and our sins are upon us, and we are ^(AL)rotting away in them; ^(AM)how then can we ^[t]survive?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘^(AN)As I live!’ declares the Lord ^[u]God, ‘I take ^(AO)no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked ^(AP)turn from his way and live. ^(AQ)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?’ ¹² And you, son of man, say to ^[v]your fellow citizens, ‘The ^(AR)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 ^(AS)not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live ^[w]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 ^(AT)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 ^(AU)turns from his sin and practices ^(AV)justice and righteousness, ¹⁵ if a wicked person returns a pledge, ^(AW)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(AX)statutes ^[x]which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. ^16 (AY)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 ^[y]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 ^(AZ)commits injustice, then he shall die in ^[z]it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘^(BA)The way of the Lord is not right.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

²⁸ These are the people whom ^(A)Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the ^[a]seventh year 3,023 Jews; ²⁹ in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, ^(B)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 people in all.

An Experience of the Captivity.

Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ The sons of Simeon were ^[a]Nemuel and Jamin, ^[b]Jarib, ^[c]Zerah, and Shaul; ²⁵ Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma were Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, and Shimei his son. ²⁷ Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family increase like the sons of Judah. ²⁸ They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, and Hazar-shual, ²⁹ in Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, ³³ and all their settlements that were around the same cities as far as ^[d]Baal. These were their dwellings, and they have their genealogy.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, ³⁶ and Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these ^[e]mentioned by name were leaders in their families; and their fathers’ houses spread out greatly. ³⁹ They went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ They found pasture that was rich and good, and ^(A)the land was spread out on both sides, and peaceful and undisturbed; for those who lived there previously were Hamites. ^41 (B)These people, recorded by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they ^[f]attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they lived in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴² From them, from the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to ^(C)Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders. ^43 (D)They ^[g]destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and they have lived there to this day.

Genealogy from Reuben

5 Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for ^(E)he was the firstborn, but because ^(F)he defiled his father’s bed, ^(G)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; so he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ^2 (H)Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and ^(I)from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), ^3 (J)the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi. ⁴ The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, ^(K)Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ and Beerah his son, whom ^[h]Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria took into exile; he was leader of the Reubenites. ⁷ His relatives by their families, ^(L)in the genealogy of their generations, were Jeiel the chief, then Zechariah ⁸ and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in ^(M)Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹ Toward the east he settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, ^(N)because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰ In the days of Saul ^(O)they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, so that they ^[i]occupied their tents throughout the ^[j]land east of Gilead.

¹¹ Now the sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of ^(P)Bashan, as far as ^(Q)Salecah. ¹² Joel was the head and Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ Their relatives of their fathers’ households were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their fathers’ households. ¹⁶ They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of ^(R)Sharon, as far as their ^[k]borders. ¹⁷ All of these were enrolled in the genealogies in the days of ^(S)Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^(T)Jeroboam king of Israel.