Ezekiel 33
The Message
You Are the Watchman
33 1-5 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘If I bring war on this land and the people take one of their citizens and make him their watchman, and if the watchman sees war coming and blows the trumpet, warning the people, then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and ignores it and war comes and takes him off, it’s his own fault. He heard the alarm, he ignored it—it’s his own fault. If he had listened, he would have saved his life.
6 “‘But if the watchman sees war coming and doesn’t blow the trumpet, warning the people, and war comes and takes anyone off, I’ll hold the watchman responsible for the bloodshed of any unwarned sinner.’
7-9 “You, son of man, are the watchman. I’ve made you a watchman for Israel. The minute you hear a message from me, warn them. If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked man, wicked woman, you’re on the fast track to death!’ and you don’t speak up and warn the wicked to change their ways, the wicked will die unwarned in their sins and I’ll hold you responsible for their bloodshed. But if you warn the wicked to change their ways and they don’t do it, they’ll die in their sins well-warned and at least you will have saved your own life.
10 “Son of man, speak to Israel. Tell them, ‘You’ve said, “Our rebellions and sins are weighing us down. We’re wasting away. How can we go on living?”’
11 “Tell them, ‘As sure as I am the living God, I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked. I want the wicked to change their ways and live. Turn your life around! Reverse your evil ways! Why die, Israel?’
12-13 “There’s more, son of man. Tell your people, ‘A good person’s good life won’t save him when he decides to rebel, and a bad person’s bad life won’t prevent him from repenting of his rebellion. A good person who sins can’t expect to live when he chooses to sin. It’s true that I tell good people, “Live! Be alive!” But if they trust in their good deeds and turn to evil, that good life won’t amount to a hill of beans. They’ll die for their evil life.
14-16 “‘On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, “You’ll die for your wicked life,” and he repents of his sin and starts living a righteous and just life—being generous to the down-and-out, restoring what he had stolen, cultivating life-nourishing ways that don’t hurt others—he’ll live. He won’t die. None of his sins will be kept on the books. He’s doing what’s right, living a good life. He’ll live.
17-19 “‘Your people say, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” But it’s the way they’re living that isn’t fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they’ll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he’ll come alive.
20 “‘Still, you keep on saying, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” We’ll see, Israel. I’ll decide on each of you exactly according to how you live.’”
* * *
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city’s fallen.”
22 The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of God had been on me and restored my speech. By the time he arrived in the morning I was able to speak. I could talk again.
23-24 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, those who are living in the ruins back in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man and he owned the whole country. But there are lots of us. Our ownership is even more certain.’
25-26 “So tell them, ‘God the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will—and you expect to own this land? You rely on the sword, you engage in obscenities, you indulge in sex at random—anyone, anytime. And you still expect to own this land?’
27-28 “Tell them this, Ezekiel: ‘The Message of God, the Master. As sure as I am the living God, those who are still alive in the ruins will be killed. Anyone out in the field I’ll give to wild animals for food. Anyone hiding out in mountain forts and caves will die of disease. I’ll make this country an empty wasteland—no more arrogant bullying! Israel’s mountains will become dangerously desolate. No one will dare pass through them.’
29 “They’ll realize that I am God when I devastate the country because of all the obscenities they’ve practiced.
30-32 “As for you, son of man, you’ve become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, ‘Let’s go hear the latest news from God.’ They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don’t do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you’re merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.
33 “But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they’ll realize that a prophet was among them.”
Ezekiel 33
English Standard Version
Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 (A)“Son of man, speak to (B)your people and say to them, If (C)I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their (D)watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and (E)blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, (F)his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 (G)He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 (H)But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, (I)that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
7 (J)“So you, (K)son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. (L)Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 (M)If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, (N)and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, (O)that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 (P)But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, (Q)that person shall die in his iniquity, (R)but you will have delivered your soul.
Why Will You Die, Israel?
10 “And you, (S)son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and (T)we rot away because of them. (U)How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, (V)As I live, declares the Lord God, (W)I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; (X)turn back, turn back from your evil ways, (Y)for why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 (Z)“And you, son of man, say to (AA)your people, (AB)The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, (AC)and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, (AD)and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness[a] when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet (AE)if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, (AF)though I say to the wicked, (AG)‘You shall surely die,’ yet (AH)if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked (AI)restores the pledge, (AJ)gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks (AK)in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 (AL)None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.
17 “Yet (AM)your people say, (AN)‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 (AO)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And (AP)when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, (AQ)I will judge each of you according to his ways.”
Jerusalem Struck Down
21 In the (AR)twelfth year (AS)of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, (AT)a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, (AU)“The city has been struck down.” 22 (AV)Now (AW)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.
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 (AX)“Son of man, the inhabitants of these (AY)waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, (AZ)‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but (BA)we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: (BB)You eat flesh with the blood and (BC)lift up your eyes to your idols and (BD)shed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 (BE)You rely on the sword, (BF)you commit abominations, and (BG)each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: (BH)As I live, surely those who are in (BI)the waste places shall fall by (BJ)the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to (BK)the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in (BL)strongholds and in caves shall die by (BM)pestilence. 28 (BN)And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and (BO)her proud might shall come to an end, and (BP)the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 (BQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.
30 “As for you, (BR)son of man, (BS)your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 (BT)And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for (BU)with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and (BV)plays[b] well on an instrument, for (BW)they hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 (BX)When this comes—and come it will!—(BY)then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 33:12 Hebrew by it
- Ezekiel 33:32 Hebrew like the singing of lustful songs with a beautiful voice and one who plays
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
