1The word of the LORD came to me again. He said,
2"Son of man, speak to the children of your people. Say to them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land, the people of the land may take a man from among them and set him up as their watchman.'"
3"'If he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows the trumpet and warns the people,"
4then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
5He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take the warning. His blood will be on him. But the one who takes the warning will save his life.
6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, that person is taken away in his sin. But I will require his blood from the watchman's hand.'
7"So, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for the house of Israel. You will hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me."
8When I say to the wicked, 'Wicked man, you will surely die,' if you do not speak to warn the wicked man from his way, that wicked man will die in his sin. But I will require his blood from your hand.
9But if you warn the wicked man about his way, telling him to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his sin. But you have saved your life.
10"So, son of man, speak to the house of Israel. You say this: 'Our wrongdoing and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them. How then can we live?'"
11Say to them, 'As surely as I live, says the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I would rather the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways. Why will you die, house of Israel?'
12"So, son of man, say to the children of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him on the day he does wrong. And the wickedness of the wicked man will not make him fall on the day he turns from his wickedness. The righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day that he sins.'"
13When I say to the righteous man that he will surely live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and does wrong, then none of his righteous acts will be remembered. He will die for the wrong that he has done.
14Again, when I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15if the wicked man gives back what was pledged to him, and returns what he had stolen, and lives by the rules that give life, and does no wrong, then he will surely live. He will not die.
16None of the sins he has committed will be brought up against him. He has done what is lawful and right. He will surely live.
17"Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' But it is their way that is not fair."
18When the righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, he will die for it.
19But if the wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he will live by it.
20"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' House of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways."
21In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has been struck down."
22Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the man who escaped came. The LORD had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer silent.
23Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said,
24"Son of man, those who live in those ruined places in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man, and he inherited the land. But we are many. The land is given to us to own.'"
25So say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: You eat meat with the blood in it. You lift up your eyes to your idols. You shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
26You rely on your sword. You do things that are disgusting. Each of you defiles his neighbour's wife. Should you then possess the land?'
27Say this to them: 'This is what the Lord GOD says: As surely as I live, those who are in the ruined places will fall by the sword. The one who is out in the open field I will give to the wild animals to be eaten. Those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the plague.
28For I will make the land completely desolate, and her proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will pass through.
29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land completely desolate because of all the disgusting things they have done.'
30"As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses. They speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.'"
31They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people. They hear your words, but they will not do them. With their mouths they show much love, but their hearts go after their greed.
32Look, you are to them like a very lovely song, sung by someone with a pleasant voice who plays an instrument well. They hear your words, but they do not do them.
33"And when this comes true (and it will come), then they will know that a prophet has been among them."