The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 33 The Office of the True Prophet

 The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 33

The Office of the True Prophet

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon the land, and the people of the land take a man from among them and make him their watchman,

3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,

4 if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but does not heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

5 If he hears the sound of the trumpet but does not heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head; but if he heeds the warning, he will save his life.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, If the sword comes and takes a life from among them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the watchman’s hand.

7 So I, son of man, have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear the word from my mouth and give them warning from me.

8 If I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you speak to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

9 But if you speak to dissuade them from their ways and they do not turn from them, they will die for their sin, but you will have saved yourself.

10 Son of man, say to the house of Israel, “This is what you are saying: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’

11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’

12 Son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver them in the day of their transgression. The wicked will not fall because of their wickedness when they turn from it. The righteous will not live because of their righteousness when they sin.’” 

13 When I say to the righteous, “He shall surely live,” and he trusts in his righteousness but commits iniquity, none of his righteous acts shall be remembered, but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.

14 When I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right,

15 if that wicked man restores the pledge, returns what he has stolen, walks in the statutes of life, and does no iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

16 None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not just”; but it is their own way that is not just.

18 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.

19 And when the wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by it.

20 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not just; I will judge each of you according to your ways, O house of Israel.”