A Watchman for Israel

16 (A)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 (B)“Son of man, (C)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall (D)give them warning from me. 18 (E)If I say to the wicked, (F)‘You shall surely die,’ (G)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person (H)shall die for[a] his iniquity, (I)but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 (J)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, (K)but you (L)will have delivered your soul. 20 (M)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, (N)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. (O)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, (P)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, (Q)but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also verses 19, 20

16 And then it happened[a] at the end of seven days, the word of Yahweh came[b] to me, saying, 17 “Son of man,[c] I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. 18 When I say[d] to the wicked, ‘Surely you will die,’ and you do not warn him and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live,[e] that wicked person will die because of his guilt, and from your hand I will seek his blood. 19 And you, if you do warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.[f] 20 And when the righteous turns from his righteousness[g] and does injustice, and I place[h] a stumbling block before him,[i] he will die, for you did not warn him. Because of his sin he will die, and his righteousness[j] that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I shall seek from your hand. 21 And if you warn him, the righteous, not to sin, and the righteous does not sin, surely he will live, for he heeded a warning. And you will have saved your life.”[k]

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:16 Or “was”
  2. Ezekiel 3:16 Literally “and it was the word of Yahweh to me to say saying
  3. Ezekiel 3:17 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 3:18 Literally “at/in my saying”
  5. Ezekiel 3:18 Literally “so that you let him live”
  6. Ezekiel 3:19 Or “soul,” or “self”
  7. Ezekiel 3:20 Literally “and at the to turn of the righteous from his righteousness”
  8. Ezekiel 3:20 Or “give”
  9. Ezekiel 3:20 Literally “to the face of him”
  10. Ezekiel 3:20 Or “righteous deeds”
  11. Ezekiel 3:21 Or “soul,” or “self”