Ezekiel must warn his people

33 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, speak to your people. Say to them, “Think about what might happen if I send an army to attack a country. The people of that country might choose one of their own men to be a guard to warn them about danger.^{[a] 3} Then, if the guard sees that enemy soldiers are ready to attack, he must blow a trumpet to warn his people. ⁴ Someone might hear the sound of the trumpet, but he does nothing to keep himself safe. If enemy soldiers then come and kill that person, he is guilty of his own death. ⁵ He deserves to die because he heard the sound of the trumpet, but he did nothing. When the trumpet warned him of danger, he should have got ready. If he had done that, he would have saved his life. ⁶ But the guard might not blow the trumpet when he sees the enemy. He might not warn his people that the enemy is ready to attack them. Then enemy soldiers might kill some of his people. Those people will die because of their sins. But the guard will be guilty of their death, because he did not warn them of danger.”

⁷ Son of man, I have chosen you to be a guard for Israel's people. You must listen to the messages that I give you. Then you must use what I say to warn the Israelites. ⁸ I might say to a wicked person, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” Then you must warn that wicked person to stop doing wicked things. If you do not warn him, he will die because of his sins. But I will say that you are guilty of his death. ⁹ If you do warn him and he refuses to change, he will die because of his sins. But you will have saved your own life.

¹⁰ Son of man, give Israel's people this message: “You are saying, ‘The punishment for our sins is too much for us. We are dying because of all the bad things that we have done. What should we do so that we can continue to live?’ ”

¹¹ Tell them, “It does not make me happy to punish wicked people with death. I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live. I want wicked people to stop doing wrong things so that they may continue to live. So stop doing evil things! Israel's people, you do not have to die. Turn back to me!”

¹² Son of man, you must say to your people, “If a righteous person refuses to obey me, I will punish him. The good things that he has done will not save him. And if a wicked person stops doing bad things, he will no longer be guilty. Righteous people will not continue to live if they start to do bad things.”

¹³ I may say to righteous people that they will certainly continue to live. But then they may trust in the good things that they have done. They may think that I will not punish them if they start to do evil things. But if they do that, I will destroy them because of their sins. I will not even think about the good things that they did at an earlier time.

¹⁴ Also, I may say to wicked people, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” But then they may stop doing bad things. They may start to do things that are good and right. ¹⁵ For example, a wicked person might give back something that he has taken from someone as a guarantee. Or he might give back things that he has robbed from people. A wicked person might start to obey the laws that give life. He might stop doing evil things. If wicked people change like that, then they will continue to live. They will not die as punishment for their sins. ¹⁶ I will not think about the sins that they have done. Now that they have started to do things that are good and right, they will certainly continue to live.

¹⁷ Your people, the Israelites, are saying: “The Lord is not fair in the things that he does!” But it is the people themselves who live in a way that is not fair. ¹⁸ If a righteous person stops doing good things and he starts to do evil things, he will die. He deserves to die because of his sins. ¹⁹ Also, if a wicked person stops doing bad things and he starts to do things that are good and right, he will continue to live. He deserves to live because he has changed. ²⁰ But you Israelites continue to say, “The Lord is not fair!” But I will judge each of you in a way that you deserve for the things that you have done.’

Ezekiel hears news about Jerusalem

²¹ This is what happened 12 years after we had come to Babylon as prisoners. It was on the 5th day of the 10th month of that year. A man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon.^[b] He said, ‘Enemies have taken Jerusalem for themselves.’ ²² Before that man arrived, the Lord had taken hold of me in the night. He had opened my mouth so that I was able to speak again.^[c]

²³ Then the Lord gave this message to me:

²⁴ ‘Son of man, there are people who continue to live in the places in Israel that have become heaps of stones. Those Israelites are saying, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the whole land of Israel. We are many people. So we can be sure that the land now belongs to us.”

²⁵ Because they say that, you must tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You eat meat which still has blood in it. You worship your idols. You also murder people. So you do not deserve to have the land for yourselves. ²⁶ You use violence to get the things that you want. You do disgusting things. You have sex with other men's wives. So you should certainly not have the land!” 

²⁷ Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I promise you this, as surely as I live. Soldiers will kill the people who live among the heaps of stones. I will cause wild animals to eat the people who live in the fields. Diseases will kill the people who hide in strong buildings and in caves. ²⁸ I will make the land become empty, like a desert. You will no longer be proud of your power. Israel's mountains will become empty places that nobody travels through. ²⁹ I will cause the land to become heaps of stones where nobody lives. I will do that to punish the people for the disgusting things that they have done. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

³⁰ Son of man, the Israelites who are here with you in Babylon are talking about you. They meet together near the walls of the city and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.”

³¹ They are my people and they come as a crowd to listen to you. They sit and they listen to your words. But they do not obey what you say. They say that they love me. But really they like to cheat people to get things for themselves. ³² They like to hear your voice. For them, you are like someone who sings beautiful songs about love. They listen to your words but they do not obey them.

³³ All these things that I have said will certainly happen. When my people see them happen, they will know that a prophet has lived among them.’