Ezekiel 33:17-28

English Standard Version

¹⁷“Yet ^(A)your people say, ^(B)‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. ¹⁸^(C)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. ¹⁹And ^(D)when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. ²⁰Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^(E)I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Struck Down

²¹In the ^(F)twelfth year ^(G)of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(H)a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^(I)“The city has been struck down.” ²²^(J)Now ^(K)the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

²³The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴^(L)“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ^(M)waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ^(N)‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ^(O)we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ ²⁵Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(P)You eat flesh with the blood and ^(Q)lift up your eyes to your idols and ^(R)shed blood; shall you then possess the land? ²⁶^(S)You rely on the sword, ^(T)you commit abominations, and ^(U)each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? ²⁷Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(V)As I live, surely those who are in ^(W)the waste places shall fall by ^(X)the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ^(Y)the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ^(Z)strongholds and in caves shall die by ^(AA)pestilence. ²⁸^(AB)And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ^(AC)her proud might shall come to an end, and ^(AD)the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through.