¹ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring [a] sword upon the land and the people of the land take a man from [within] their borders and set him up as a watchman;

³ and he should see the sword coming upon the land, [if] he should blow the shofar, and warn the people,

⁴ then whoever hears the sound of the shofar and does not take warning; and the coming of the sword should take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

⁵ He heard the sound of the shofar and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.

⁶ But if the watchman should see the sword coming and not blow the shofar and the people not be warned, if the sword comes and takes [any] person from among them, he is taken away because of his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

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.

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 for his sin; but I will require his blood at thine hand.

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

¹⁰ Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel: Ye speak thus, saying, Our transgressions and our sins [are] upon us, and we are consumed because of them. How should we then live?

¹¹ Say unto them, [As] I live, said the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and that he live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

¹² And thou, son of man, say unto the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him the day that he rebels; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not impede him in the day that he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness [in] the day that he sins.

¹³ When I am saying to the righteous, Thou shalt shall surely live and he trusting in his own righteousness commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

¹⁴ And, when I am saying unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turns from his sin, and does judgment and righteousness

¹⁵ [if] the wicked restores the pledge, returns that which he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity he shall surely live; he shall not die.

¹⁶ None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. Has he lived according to judgment and righteousness? He shall surely live.

¹⁷ Then the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: [but] their way is the one that is not straight.

¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die thereby.

¹⁹ And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does judgment and righteousness, he shall live thereby.

²⁰ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you each one after 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.

²² Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening before he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and he opened my mouth, and I was never dumb again.

²³ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, those that inhabit these wastes in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he possessed the land; but we [are] many; the land is given us for a possession.

²⁵ Therefore say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Ye eat with the blood and lift up your eyes toward your idols and shed blood, and shall ye possess this land?

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

²⁷ Thou shalt speak unto them like this, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; [As] I live, surely those that [are] in those wastes shall fall by the sword, and he that [is] in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those that [are] in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

²⁸ For I will make the land into desert and solitude, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that no one shall pass through.

²⁹ Then they shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have made the land into solitude and desert because of all their abominations which they have committed.

³⁰ And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people are still talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another, each one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD.

³¹ And they shall come unto thee as the people come, and they shall be before thee, my people, and they shall hear thy words, but they shall not do them; for with their mouth they flatter, [but] their heart goes after their covetousness.

³² And, behold, thou [art] unto them as a singer of love [songs], one that has a good voice and can sing well: and they shall hear thy words, but they will not do them.

³³ But when this comes to pass (behold, it comes), then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.: