^17 (A)pray without ceasing,

^17 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(C)give them warning from me. ^18 (D)If I say to the wicked, ^(E)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(F)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 ^(G)shall die for^[a] his iniquity, ^(H)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (I)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, ^(J)but you ^(K)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (L)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(M)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(N)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(O)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(P)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.”

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

¹⁷ Obey ^(A)your leaders and submit to them, ^(B)for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to ^(C)give an account. ^(D)Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? ⁸ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything ^(A)because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence^[a] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. ⁹ And I tell you, ^(B)ask, and ^(C)it will be given to you; ^(D)seek, and you will find; ^(E)knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for^[b] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹² or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, ^(F)who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father ^(G)give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

^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.