Ezekiel Is Called to Be a Watchman

33 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ² “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. ³ If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. ⁴ If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. ⁵ They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves.

⁶ “ ‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.’

⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, and warn them for me. ⁸ Suppose I say to a wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you say nothing to warn him to change his ways. That wicked person will die because of his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹ But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his ways and he doesn’t turn from them, then he will die because of his sin. However, you will save yourself.

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said this, “Our wickedness and our sins weigh us down, and we are rotting away because of them. How can we live?” ’

¹¹ “Tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, I don’t want wicked people to die. Rather, I want them to turn from their ways and live. Change the way you think and act! Turn from your wicked ways! Do you want to die, people of Israel?’

¹² “Son of man, say to your people, ‘The right things that a righteous person has done will not save him when he rebels. The wicked things that a wicked person has done will not make him stumble when he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person will not live when he sins.’ ¹³ I may promise the righteous person that he will certainly live. But if he trusts in the right things that he has done and he does evil, none of the right things that he has done will be remembered. He will die because of the evil things he has done. ¹⁴ I may warn the wicked person that he will certainly die. But suppose he turns from his sin and does what is fair and right. ¹⁵ He returns the security for a loan, pays back everything he stole, lives by the rules of life, and does nothing evil. Then he will certainly live. He will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins that he has done will be remembered. He has done what is fair and right. He will certainly live.

¹⁷ “But your people say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ Yet, their ways are unfair. ¹⁸ If the righteous person turns from the right things that he has done and does evil, he will die because of it. ¹⁹ If the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is fair and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰ Yet, the people of Israel say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ I will judge each of you by your own ways, people of Israel.”

Ezekiel Is Called to Be a Watchman

33 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ² “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. ³ If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. ⁴ If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. ⁵ They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves.

⁶ “ ‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.’

⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, and warn them for me. ⁸ Suppose I say to a wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you say nothing to warn him to change his ways. That wicked person will die because of his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹ But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his ways and he doesn’t turn from them, then he will die because of his sin. However, you will save yourself.

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said this, “Our wickedness and our sins weigh us down, and we are rotting away because of them. How can we live?” ’

¹¹ “Tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, I don’t want wicked people to die. Rather, I want them to turn from their ways and live. Change the way you think and act! Turn from your wicked ways! Do you want to die, people of Israel?’

¹² “Son of man, say to your people, ‘The right things that a righteous person has done will not save him when he rebels. The wicked things that a wicked person has done will not make him stumble when he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person will not live when he sins.’ ¹³ I may promise the righteous person that he will certainly live. But if he trusts in the right things that he has done and he does evil, none of the right things that he has done will be remembered. He will die because of the evil things he has done. ¹⁴ I may warn the wicked person that he will certainly die. But suppose he turns from his sin and does what is fair and right. ¹⁵ He returns the security for a loan, pays back everything he stole, lives by the rules of life, and does nothing evil. Then he will certainly live. He will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins that he has done will be remembered. He has done what is fair and right. He will certainly live.

¹⁷ “But your people say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ Yet, their ways are unfair. ¹⁸ If the righteous person turns from the right things that he has done and does evil, he will die because of it. ¹⁹ If the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is fair and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰ Yet, the people of Israel say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ I will judge each of you by your own ways, people of Israel.”

Ezekiel Is Called to Be a Watchman

33 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ² “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. ³ If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. ⁴ If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. ⁵ They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves.

⁶ “ ‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.’

⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, and warn them for me. ⁸ Suppose I say to a wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you say nothing to warn him to change his ways. That wicked person will die because of his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹ But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his ways and he doesn’t turn from them, then he will die because of his sin. However, you will save yourself.

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said this, “Our wickedness and our sins weigh us down, and we are rotting away because of them. How can we live?” ’

¹¹ “Tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, I don’t want wicked people to die. Rather, I want them to turn from their ways and live. Change the way you think and act! Turn from your wicked ways! Do you want to die, people of Israel?’

¹² “Son of man, say to your people, ‘The right things that a righteous person has done will not save him when he rebels. The wicked things that a wicked person has done will not make him stumble when he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person will not live when he sins.’ ¹³ I may promise the righteous person that he will certainly live. But if he trusts in the right things that he has done and he does evil, none of the right things that he has done will be remembered. He will die because of the evil things he has done. ¹⁴ I may warn the wicked person that he will certainly die. But suppose he turns from his sin and does what is fair and right. ¹⁵ He returns the security for a loan, pays back everything he stole, lives by the rules of life, and does nothing evil. Then he will certainly live. He will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins that he has done will be remembered. He has done what is fair and right. He will certainly live.

¹⁷ “But your people say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ Yet, their ways are unfair. ¹⁸ If the righteous person turns from the right things that he has done and does evil, he will die because of it. ¹⁹ If the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is fair and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰ Yet, the people of Israel say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ I will judge each of you by your own ways, people of Israel.”

Everyone Is a Sinner

3 Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised? ² There are all kinds of advantages. First of all, God entrusted them with his word.

³ What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness? ⁴ That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says,

⁵ But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I’m arguing the way humans would.) ⁶ That’s unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? ⁷ If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say, “Let’s do evil so that good will come from it”? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that’s what they deserve.

⁹ What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, ¹⁰ as Scripture says,

Everyone Is a Sinner

3 Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised? ² There are all kinds of advantages. First of all, God entrusted them with his word.

³ What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness? ⁴ That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says,

⁵ But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I’m arguing the way humans would.) ⁶ That’s unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? ⁷ If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say, “Let’s do evil so that good will come from it”? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that’s what they deserve.

⁹ What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, ¹⁰ as Scripture says,

Everyone Is a Sinner

3 Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised? ² There are all kinds of advantages. First of all, God entrusted them with his word.

³ What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness? ⁴ That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says,

⁵ But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I’m arguing the way humans would.) ⁶ That’s unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? ⁷ If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say, “Let’s do evil so that good will come from it”? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that’s what they deserve.

⁹ What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, ¹⁰ as Scripture says,