Ezekiel, 33

1. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

1. The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms,

2. Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

2. "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: Imagine that I bring the sword against a country, and the people of that country choose one among them to be their sentry.

3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

3. When this man sees the sword approach the land, he shall sound the trumpet to warn the people;

4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

4. then if anyone hears the trumpet and does not heed the warning he shall be responsible for his own death,

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.

5. but the man who gave the warning will save his life.

6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword 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.

6. On the other hand when the sentry sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, the people are not warned and some are killed. In that case I will hold the sentry responsible and he will answer for the victims' death.

7. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

7. For your part, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for Israel, and when you hear my word, you must give them my warning.

8. When I say unto 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 thine hand.

8. When I say to the wicked: 'Wicked man, you shall die for sure,' if you do not warn the wicked man to turn from his ways, he will die because of his sin, but I will also call you to account for his blood.

9. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

9. If you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you yourself will be saved.

10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins [be] upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

10. Son of man, you know the people of Israel say: 'We are wasting away because of our sin, and our wrongdoing is weighing us down. How can we live?'

11. Say unto them, [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

11. Say to them: As I live, word of Yahweh, I do not want the wicked to die but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! turn from your wicked ways! Why, O Israel, should you die?

12. Therefore, thou son of man, say unto 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 thereby 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.

12. You, son of man, say to your people: The righteous life of the upright will not save him on the day he turns to sin and the wicked man will not be bound to his wickedness on the day he turns from his evil ways; likewise for the upright: he will die.

13. When I shall say to the righteous, [that] he shall surely live; if he 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.

13. When I have said to the righteous: 'You will live,' if he takes advantage of his righteousness to do evil, his former upright life will not be remembered; the evil he is doing will make him die.

14. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

14. And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will certainly die,' but he then turns from his sin and does what is just and right,

15. [If] the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

15. gives back what he took as a pledge on a loan, restores what he has stolen, obeys the decrees that are life-giving and avoids evil, he will live, he will not die.

16. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

16. His life in sin will no longer be held against him. He has done what is just and right and because of that he will live.

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.

17. Yet your people say, 'The position of the Lord is not just.' On the contrary it is theirs that is wrong.

18. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

18. The upright man who turns from what is just and right and does evil, shall die;

19. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

19. and the wicked man who turns from evil to do what is just and right shall live!

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.

20. Though you say: 'The Lord's position is wrong,' I will judge you, Israel, each one according to his ways."

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 unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

21. On the fifth day of the tenth month in the eleventh year of our exile, a fugitive arrived from Jerusalem to tell me: "The city has fallen."

22. Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was 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.

22. Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me the evening before the arrival of the fugitive. When I met him in the morning, Yahweh opened my mouth. My tongue was loosened and no longer was I silent.

23. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

23. The word of Yahweh then came to me in these terms,

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 us for inheritance.

24. "Son of man, those who remain among the ruins in the land of Israel reckon: 'Abraham was alone when he received the land as a possession; we are still numerous enough and it is to us that the country has been given.'

25. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

25. But you will say to them: thus says Yahweh: You eat food with blood, you look towards idols, you shed blood, and you want to possess the land!

26. Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

26. You lean on your sword, you do what is detestable, each one dishonors his neighbor's wife and yet you want to possess the land!

27. Say thou thus unto 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 [be] in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

27. Say to them: This is the word of Yahweh: As I live, those who settled among the ruins will fall by the sword; those in the open country I will give as food to the beasts and those in strongholds and caves shall die of the plague.

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.

28. I will make the country a wasteland, a lonely place. They will no longer lean on their power and the mountains of Israel shall be deserted with no one crossing them.

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.

29. Then they will know that I am Yahweh when I make their country a lonely waste because of all the detestable things they have done.

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.

30. Son of man, your people talk about you along the walls and at the doors of the houses, each one with his neighbor: 'Come and hear the latest word of Yahweh.'

31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their covetousness.

31. They go to you as they go to an assembly and sit in front of you. They listen to your words but do not do what you say. Instead they continue to lie and look only for their own interest.

32. And, lo, thou [art] unto 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 them not.

32. For them you are no more than a singer of lovesongs - a beautiful voice accompanied by beautiful music. They listen but do not practice what they hear.

33. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

33. But when what is foretold comes true - and it is about to happen - they will know that there was a prophet among them."