33:1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to
them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the
land take a man of their borders, and set him for their
watchman:
33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he shall
blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
33:4 Then whoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh
not warning; if the sword shall come and take him away, his
blood shall be upon his own head.
33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning;
his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall
deliver his soul.
33:6 But if the watchman shall see the sword come, and blow not
the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword shall
come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away
in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's
hand.
33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman to the
house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my
mouth, and warn them from me.
33:8 When I say to the wicked, O wicked [man], thou shalt surely
die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way,
that wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will
I require at thy hand.
33:9 Nevertheless, if thou shalt warn the wicked of his way to
turn from it; if he shall not turn from his way, he shall die
in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak to the house of
Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our
sins [are] upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we
then live?
33:11 Say to them, [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked should
turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say to the children of thy
people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver
him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of
the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turneth
from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to
live for his [righteousness] in the day that he sinneth.
33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, [that] he shall surely
live; if he shall trust to his own righteousness, and commit
iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but
for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
33:14 Again, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if
he shall turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and
right;
33:15 [If] the wicked shall restore the pledge, give again that
which he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without
committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
33:16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned
to him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall
surely live.
33:17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the LORD is
not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
33:18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, for that he shall even die.
33:19 But if the wicked shall turn from his wickedness, and do
that which is lawful and right, for that he shall live.
33:20 Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal. O ye house
of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity,
in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [that]
one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The
city is smitten.
33:22 Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening,
before he that had escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until
he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I
was no more dumb.
33:23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
33:24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of
Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the
land: but we [are] many; the land is given to us for
inheritance.
33:25 Wherefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat
with the blood, and lift up your eyes towards your idols, and
shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?
33:26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye
defile every one his neighbor's wife: and shall ye possess the
land?
33:27 Say thou thus to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; [As] I
live, surely they that [are] in the wastes shall fall by the
sword, and him that [is] in the open field will I give to the
beasts to be devoured, and they that [are] in the forts and in
the caves shall die by the pestilence.
33:28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her
strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be
desolate, that none shall pass through.
33:29 Then shall they know that I [am] the LORD, when I have
laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations
which they have committed.
33:30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still
are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the
houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother,
saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh
forth from the LORD.
33:31 And they come to thee as the people come, and they sit
before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they
will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love,
[but] their heart goeth after their covetousness.
33:32 And lo, thou [art] to them as a very lovely song of one
that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument:
for they hear thy words, but they do not perform them.
33:33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then
shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
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