² “Son of man, speak to ^(A)the children of your people, and say to them: ^(B)‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their ^(C)watchman,

Hearing and Not Doing

³⁰ “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they ^(A)speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’

^17 (A)“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not ^[a]fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair!

¹⁷ “Or if ^(A)I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I ^(B)cut off man and beast from it,

¹¹ And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ^(A)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”