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The Watchman's Duty

¹ Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,² "Son of man, speak to the ^(C1)sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,³ and he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^(C1)blows the ^(F1)horn and warns the people,⁴ then ^(F1)someone who hears the sound of the horn but ^(C1)does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his ^(C2)blood will be on his own head.⁵ 'He heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have ^(C1)saved his life.⁶ 'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is ^(C1)taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will ^(F1)require his ^(C2)blood from the watchman's hand.'

⁷ "Now as for you, son of man, I have ^(F1)(C1)appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a ^(F2)message from My mouth and give them a ^(C2)warning from Me.⁸ "When I say to the wicked, 'You wicked person, you will ^(C1)certainly die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way, that wicked person shall die for his wrongdoing, but I will ^(F1)require his blood from your hand.⁹ "But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he ^(C1)does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have ^(C2)saved your life.

¹⁰ "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you have ^(F1)said: "Surely our offenses and our sins are upon us, and we are ^(C1)rotting away in them; ^(C2)how then can we ^(F2)survive?"'¹¹ "Say to them, '^(C1)As I live!' declares the Lord ^(F1)GOD, 'I take ^(C2)no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked ^(C3)turn from his way and live. ^(C4)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?'¹² "And you, son of man, say to ^(F1)your fellow citizens, 'The ^(C1)righteousness of a righteous one will not save him on the day of his offense, and as for the wickedness of a wicked one, he will ^(C2)not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live ^(F2)by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'¹³ "When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he ^(C1)commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but for that same injustice of his which he has committed he will die.¹⁴ "But when I say to the wicked, 'You will certainly die,' and he ^(C1)turns from his sin and practices ^(C2)justice and righteousness,¹⁵ if a wicked person returns a pledge, ^(C1)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(C2)statutes ^(F1)which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.¹⁶ "^(C1)None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall certainly live.

¹⁷ "Yet ^(F1)your fellow citizens say, 'The way of the Lord is not right,' when it is their own way that is not right.¹⁸ "When the righteous turns from his righteousness and ^(C1)commits injustice, then he shall die in ^(F1)it.¹⁹ "But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.²⁰ "Yet you say, '^(C1)The way of the Lord is not right.' I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel."

Word of Jerusalem's Capture

²¹ Now ^(C1)in the ^(C2)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "^(C3)The city has been ^(F1)taken."²² Now the ^(C1)hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He ^(C2)opened my mouth ^(F1)at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(C3)opened and I was no longer ^(F2)speechless.

²³ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,²⁴ "Son of man, they who ^(C1)live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, '^(C2)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(C3)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.'²⁵ "Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "You eat meat with the ^(C1)blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(C2)Should you then possess the land?²⁶ "You ^(F1)(C1)rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?"'²⁷ "You shall say this to them: 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will ^(C1)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^(F1)open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(C2)caves will die of plague.²⁸ "And I will ^(C1)make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ^(C2)pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted so that no one will pass through.²⁹ "Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed."'

³⁰ "But as for you, son of man, ^(F1)your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, '^(C1)Come now and hear what the ^(F2)message is that comes from the LORD.'³¹ "And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them; for they do the lustful desires expressed by their ^(C1)mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful ^(C2)gain.³² "And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a ^(C1)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.³³ "So when it ^(C1)comes—^(F1)as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them."