¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away^(A) because of^[a] them. How then can we live?^(B)”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.^(C) Turn!^(D) Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’^(E)

¹² “Therefore, son of man, say to your people,^(F) ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’^{(G) 13} If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done.^{(H) 14} And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just^(I) and right— ¹⁵ if they give back what they took in pledge^(J) for a loan, return what they have stolen,^(K) follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die.^{(L) 16} None of the sins^(M) that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.^(N)

¹⁷ “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. ¹⁸ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil,^(O) they will die for it.^{(P) 19} And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so.^{(Q) 20} Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”^(R)

Jerusalem’s Fall Explained

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped^(S) from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!^(T)” ²² Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me,^(U) and he opened my mouth^(V) before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.^(W)