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¹ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,² "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and you have said to them: When I bring a sword on a land, || And the people of the land have taken one man out of their borders, || And made him their watchman,³ And he has seen the sword coming against the land, || And has blown with a horn, and has warned the people,⁴ And the hearer has heard the voice of the horn, and he has not taken warning, || And the sword comes in, and takes him away, || His blood is on his [own] head.⁵ The voice of the horn he heard, || And he has not taken warning, his blood is on him, || And he who took warning has delivered his soul.⁶ And the watchman, when he sees the sword coming in, || And he has not blown with a horn, || And the people have not been warned, || And a sword comes in, || And takes away a soul from them, || He is taken away in his iniquity, || And I require his blood from the hand of the watchman.⁷ And you, son of man, || I gave you [as] a watchman for the house of Israel, || And you have heard a word from My mouth, || And you have warned them from Me.⁸ In My saying to the wicked, O wicked one—you surely die, || And you have not spoken to warn the wicked from his way, || He—the wicked—dies in his iniquity, || And I require his blood from your hand.⁹ And you, when you have warned the wicked of his way, to turn back from it, || And he has not turned back from his way, || He dies in his iniquity, || And you have delivered your soul.

¹⁰ And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken correctly, saying, || Surely our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, || And we are wasting away in them, || How, then, do we live?¹¹ Say to them, [As] I live—a declaration of Lord YHWH, || I do not delight in the death of the wicked, || But in the turning of the wicked from his way, and he has lived. Turn back, turn back, from your evil ways! Indeed, why do you die, O house of Israel?¹² And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous does not deliver him in the day of his transgression, || And the wickedness of the wicked, || He does not stumble for it in the day of his turning from his wickedness, || And the righteous is not able to live in it in the day of his sinning.¹³ In My saying of the righteous: He surely lives, || And—he has trusted on his righteousness, || And he has done perversity, || All his righteous acts are not remembered, || And for his perversity that he has done, || He dies for it.¹⁴ And in My saying to the wicked: You surely die, || And—he has turned back from his sin, || And has done judgment and righteousness,¹⁵ (The wicked restores a pledge, he repays [for] plunder), || He has walked in the statutes of life, || So as not to do perversity, || He surely lives—he does not die.¹⁶ All his sin—his sins that he has sinned—are not remembered against him, || He has done judgment and righteousness, || He surely lives.¹⁷ And the sons of your people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, || As for them—their way is not pondered.¹⁸ In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, || And he has done perversity—he dies for it.¹⁹ And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, || And he has done judgment and righteousness—he lives by them.²⁰ And you have said, The way of the Lord is not pondered; I judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel."

²¹ And it comes to pass, in the twelfth year—in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month—of our removal, one who is escaped from Jerusalem comes to me, saying, "The city has been struck."²² And the hand of YHWH has been to me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He opens my mouth until [his] coming to me in the morning, and my mouth is opened, and I have not been silent again.²³ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,²⁴ "Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying, Abraham has been alone—and he possesses the land, and we [are] many—the land has been given to us for a possession.²⁵ Therefore say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: You eat with the blood, || And you lift up your eyes to your idols, || And you shed blood, || Should you then inherit the land?²⁶ You have stood on your sword, || You have done abomination, || You have each defiled the wife of his neighbor, || Should you then possess the land?²⁷ Thus you say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: [As] I live—do they who [are] in the ruins not fall by the sword? And they who [are] on the face of the field, || I have given for food to the beast, || And they who are in strongholds and in caves die by pestilence.²⁸ And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, || And the excellence of its strength has ceased, || And mountains of Israel have been desolated, || Without anyone passing through.²⁹ And they have known that I [am] YHWH, || In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, || For all their abominations that they have done.

³⁰ And you, son of man, || The sons of your people who are speaking about you, || By the walls, and in openings of the houses, || Have spoken with one another, each with his brother, || Saying, Please come in, || And hear what the word [is] that comes out from YHWH.³¹ And they come in to you as the coming in of a people, || And they sit before you—My people, || And have heard your words, and they do not do them, || For they are making unhealthy loves with their mouth, || Their heart is going after their dishonest gain.³² And behold, you [are] as a singer of unhealthy loves to them, || A beautiful voice, and playing well on an instrument, || And they have heard your words, and they are not doing them.³³ And in its coming in—behold, it has come, || And they have known that a prophet has been in their midst!"