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Ezekiel 33
New English Translation

Ezekiel Israel’s Watchman

33 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people,[a] and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet,[b] and warns the people,[c] 4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death.[d] 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself.[e] If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity,[f] but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’[g]

7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman[h] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’[i] and you do not warn[j] the wicked about his behavior,[k] the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.[l] 9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior,[m] and he refuses to change,[n] he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us,[o] and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior[p] and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds![q] Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

12 “And you, son of man, say to your people,[r] ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels.[s] As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it.[t] The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness[u] if he sins.’[v] 13 Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. 14 Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. 15 He[w] returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life,[x] committing no iniquity. He will certainly live—he will not die. 16 None of the sins he has committed will be counted[y] against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

17 “Yet your people[z] say, ‘The behavior[aa] of the Lord is not right,’[ab] when it is their behavior that is not right. 18 When a righteous man turns from his godliness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. 19 When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.”[ac]

The Fall of Jerusalem

21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month,[ad] a refugee came to me from Jerusalem saying, “The city has been defeated!”[ae] 22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me[af] the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord[ag] opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived[ah] in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was able to speak once more.[ai] 23 The Lord’s message came to me: 24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’[aj] 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it,[ak] pray to[al] your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess[am] the land? 26 You rely[an] on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’

27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die[ao] by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’[ap]

30 “But as for you, son of man, your people[aq] (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another,[ar] ‘Come hear the word that comes[as] from the Lord.’ 31 They come to you in crowds,[at] and they sit in front of you as[au] my people. They hear your words, but do not obey[av] them. For they talk lustfully,[aw] and their heart is set on[ax] their own advantage.[ay] 32 Realize[az] that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician.[ba] They hear your words, but they do not obey them.[bb] 33 When all this comes true—and it certainly will[bc]—then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 33:2 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
  2. Ezekiel 33:3 tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).
  3. Ezekiel 33:3 tn Sounding the trumpet could warn of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).
  4. Ezekiel 33:4 tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”
  5. Ezekiel 33:5 tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”
  6. Ezekiel 33:6 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
  7. Ezekiel 33:6 tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”
  8. Ezekiel 33:7 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
  9. Ezekiel 33:8 tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.
  10. Ezekiel 33:8 tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”
  11. Ezekiel 33:8 tn Heb “way.”
  12. Ezekiel 33:8 tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”
  13. Ezekiel 33:9 tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”
  14. Ezekiel 33:9 tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”
  15. Ezekiel 33:10 tn Heb “(are) upon us.”
  16. Ezekiel 33:11 tn Heb “turn from his way.”
  17. Ezekiel 33:11 tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.
  18. Ezekiel 33:12 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
  19. Ezekiel 33:12 tn Heb “in the day of his rebellion.” The statement envisions a godly person rejecting what is good and becoming sinful. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:247-48.
  20. Ezekiel 33:12 tn Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”
  21. Ezekiel 33:12 tn Heb “by it.”
  22. Ezekiel 33:12 tn Heb “in the day of his sin.”
  23. Ezekiel 33:15 tn Heb “the wicked one.”
  24. Ezekiel 33:15 tn Heb “and in the statutes of life he walks.”
  25. Ezekiel 33:16 tn Heb “remembered.”
  26. Ezekiel 33:17 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
  27. Ezekiel 33:17 tn Heb “way.”
  28. Ezekiel 33:17 tn The Hebrew verb translated “is (not) right” has the basic meaning of “to measure.” For a similar concept, see Ezek 18:25, 29.
  29. Ezekiel 33:20 tn Heb “ways.”
  30. Ezekiel 33:21 tn January 19, 585 b.c.
  31. Ezekiel 33:21 tn Heb “smitten.”
  32. Ezekiel 33:22 tn The other occurrences of the phrase “the hand of the Lord” in Ezekiel are in the context of prophetic visions.
  33. Ezekiel 33:22 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  34. Ezekiel 33:22 tn Heb “by the time of the arrival to me.” For clarity the translation specifies the refugee as the one who arrived.
  35. Ezekiel 33:22 sn Ezekiel’s God-imposed muteness was lifted (see 3:26).
  36. Ezekiel 33:24 sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.
  37. Ezekiel 33:25 sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).
  38. Ezekiel 33:25 tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”
  39. Ezekiel 33:25 tn Heb “Will you possess?”
  40. Ezekiel 33:26 tn Heb “stand.”
  41. Ezekiel 33:27 tn Heb “fall.”
  42. Ezekiel 33:29 sn The judgments of vv. 27-29 echo the judgments of Lev 26:22, 25.
  43. Ezekiel 33:30 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
  44. Ezekiel 33:30 tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”
  45. Ezekiel 33:30 tn Heb “comes out.”
  46. Ezekiel 33:31 tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.
  47. Ezekiel 33:31 tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.
  48. Ezekiel 33:31 tn Heb “do.”
  49. Ezekiel 33:31 tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”
  50. Ezekiel 33:31 tn Heb “goes after.”
  51. Ezekiel 33:31 tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term that can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.
  52. Ezekiel 33:32 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  53. Ezekiel 33:32 tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”
  54. Ezekiel 33:32 sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.
  55. Ezekiel 33:33 tn Heb “behold, it is coming.”
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Ezekiel 33
Expanded Bible

Ezekiel Is Watchman for Israel

33 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], speak to your people and say to them: ‘Suppose I bring a war against a land. The people of the land may choose one of their men and make him their watchman. 3 When he sees the ·enemy [L sword] coming ·to attack [against] the land, he will blow the trumpet and warn the people. 4 If they hear the sound of the trumpet but do ·nothing [not heed], the ·enemy [L sword] will come and ·kill them [L take them away]. ·They will be responsible for their own deaths [L Their blood will be on their own head]. 5 They heard the sound of the trumpet but didn’t ·do anything [heed the warning]. So ·they are to blame for their own deaths [L their blood will be on their own head]. If they had ·done something [taken the warning], they would have saved their own lives. 6 But if the watchman sees the ·enemy [L sword] coming to attack and does not blow the trumpet, the people will not be warned. Then if the ·enemy [L sword] comes and ·kills [L takes away] any of them, they have died because of their own sin. But I will ·punish [hold accountable] the watchman for their ·deaths [L blood].’

7 “You, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], are the one I have made a watchman for [L the house of] Israel. If you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them for me. 8 Suppose I say to the wicked: ‘Wicked people, you will surely die,’ but you don’t speak to warn the wicked to ·stop doing evil [turn from their ways]. Then they will die ·because they were sinners [for their iniquity], but I will ·punish you [hold you accountable] for their deaths. 9 But if you warn the wicked to ·stop doing evil [turn from their ways] and they do not stop, they will die ·because they were sinners [for their iniquity]. But you have saved your life.

10 “So you, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], say to [L the house of] Israel: ‘You have said: Surely our ·lawbreaking [transgressions] and sins are ·hurting [L upon] us. ·They will kill us [We are wasting/rotting away because of them]. What can we do so we will live?’ 11 Say to them: ‘The Lord God says: As surely as I live, I ·do not want any who are wicked to die [L take no pleasure in the death of the wicked]. I want them to ·stop doing evil [turn from their ways] and live. ·Stop [Turn]! ·Stop [Turn from] your wicked ways! ·You don’t want to die, do you [L Why will you die], ·people [L house] of Israel?’

12 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], say to your people: ‘The ·goodness [righteousness] of ·those who do right [the righteous] will not save them ·when they sin [L in the day of their rebellion]. The ·evil of wicked people [wickedness of the wicked] will not cause them to ·be punished [stumble] if they stop doing it. If ·good people [the righteous] sin, they will not be able to live by the ·good [righteousness] they did earlier.’ 13 If I tell ·good people [the righteous], ‘You will surely live,’ they might ·think they have done enough good [L trust in their righteousness] and then do evil. Then none of the ·good [righteous] things they did will be remembered. They will die because of the ·evil [iniquity] they have done. 14 Or, if I say to the wicked people, ‘You will surely die,’ they may stop sinning and do what is right and ·honest [just]. 15 For example, ·they [L the wicked one] may ·return what somebody gave them as a promise to repay a loan [restore the pledge], or pay back what they stole. If they live by the ·rules [statutes] that give life and do not ·sin [do evil; practice iniquity], then they will surely live, and they will not die. 16 None of the sins they have committed will be ·held [L remembered] against them. They now do what is right and ·fair [just], so they will surely live.

17 “Your people say: ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their own ways that are not ·fair [just]. 18 When the ·good people [righteous] ·stop doing good [turn from righteousness] and do evil, they will die for their evil. 19 But when the wicked ·stop doing evil [turn from sin] and do what is right and ·fair [just], they will live. 20 You still say: ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Israel, I will judge all of you ·by [according to] your own ways.”

The Fall of Jerusalem Explained

21 It was in the twelfth year [C since King Jehoiachin’s exile (1:2)], on the fifth day of the tenth month [C January 19, 585 bc]. A ·person who had escaped [survivor; refugee; fugitive] from Jerusalem came to me and said, “Jerusalem has been ·captured [struck down].” 22 Now ·I had felt the power of the Lord [L the hand of the Lord was] on me the evening before. He had ·made me able to talk again [L opened my mouth] before this person came to me. ·I could speak [L He opened my mouth]; I was not without speech anymore [C see 3:24–27].

23 Then the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 24 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], people who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying: ‘Abraham was only one person, yet he was given the land as his own. Surely the land has been given to us, who are many, as our ·very own [possession].’ 25 So say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with the blood still in it [C forbidden in the law; Lev. 19:26], you ·ask your idols for help [L raise your eyes to your idols], and you ·murder people [L shed blood]. Should you then ·have the land as your very own [possess the land]? 26 You depend on your sword and do ·terrible things that I hate [detestable/abominable things]. Each of you ·has sexual relations with [defiles] his neighbor’s wife. So should you ·have [possess] the land?’

27 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, those who are among the city ruins in Israel will ·be killed in war [L fall by the sword]. I will cause those who live in the ·country [open field] to be eaten by wild animals. People ·hiding in [L in] the strongholds and caves will die of ·disease [plague; pestilence]. 28 I will make the land an ·empty desert [desolate wasteland]. ·The people’s pride in the land’s power [L …and her confident pride] will end. The mountains of Israel will become ·empty [desolate] so that no one will pass through them. 29 They will know that I am the Lord when I make the land an ·empty desert [desolate wasteland] because of the things they have done that ·I hate [are detestable/abominable].’

30 “But as for you, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of houses. They say to each other: ‘Come now, and hear the message from the Lord.’ 31 So they come to you in crowds as ·if they were really ready to listen [or they usually do; or people do]. They sit in front of you as if they were my people and hear your words, but they will not ·obey [do] them. With their mouths they ·tell me they love me [or talk lustfully], ·but [or and] their hearts ·desire [pursue] their selfish profits. 32 [L Look; T Behold] To your people you are nothing more than a singer who sings ·love [or sensual; lustful] songs and has a beautiful voice and plays a musical instrument well. They hear your words, but they will not ·obey [do] them.

33 “When this comes true, and it surely will happen, then the people will know that a prophet has been among them.”

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