Ezekiel 33

Warning the Wicked Ezekiel 33:7–9

⁷Verse 7. “So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from me. ⁸Verse 8. When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand. ⁹Verse 9. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

God's Desire for Repentance Ezekiel 33:10–20

¹⁰Verse 10. “You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘You say this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then can we live?”’ ¹¹Verse 11. Tell them, ‘“As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?”’ ¹²Verse 12. “You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins.

¹³Verse 13. When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed. ¹⁴Verse 14. Again, when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die;” if he turns from his sin, and does that which is lawful and right; ¹⁵Verse 15. if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he will surely live. He will not die. ¹⁶Verse 16. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will surely live.

¹⁷Verse 17. “‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair;” but as for them, their way is not fair. ¹⁸Verse 18. When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he will even die therein. ¹⁹Verse 19. When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he will live thereby. ²⁰Verse 20. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.’”

News of Jerusalem's Fall Ezekiel 33:21–22

²¹Verse 21. In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!” ²²Verse 22. Now Yahweh’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

Judgment on the Inhabitants Ezekiel 33:23–29

²³Verse 23. Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ²⁴Verse 24. “Son of man, those who inhabit the waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance.’ ²⁵Verse 25. Therefore tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land? ²⁶Verse 26. You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. So should you possess the land?”’ ²⁷Verse 27. “You shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give he who is in the open field to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence.

²⁸Verse 28. I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. ²⁹Verse 29. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

Response to the Prophet Ezekiel 33:30–33

³⁰Verse 30. “As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from Yahweh.’ ³¹Verse 31. They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. ³²Verse 32. Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them.

³³Verse 33. “When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”