¹⁶ At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman^[a] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’^[b] and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity,^[c] but I will hold you accountable for his death.^{[d] 19} But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.^[e]

²⁰ “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle^[f] before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²¹ However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he^[g] does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”