1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and tell them: Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land pick a man from among them and set him as their watchman,
3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and sounds the trumpet to warn the people.
4 If anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and takes him, his blood will be on his own head.
5 He heard the trumpet sound but ignored the warning; his blood will be on himself. Had he heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not sound the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes a life from among them, that one is taken away for his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman responsible for his blood.
7 "As for you, Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear a word from my mouth, give them warning from me.
8 If I tell the wicked man, 'Wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak up to warn the wicked man away from his way, that wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you responsible for his blood.
9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
10 "You, Son of man, tell the house of Israel: This is what you people say: 'Our transgressions and our sins weigh on us, and we are rotting away because of them. How can we live?'
11 Tell them: As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but in the wicked turning from his way and living. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?
12 "You, Son of man, tell the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him on the day he transgresses; and the wickedness of the wicked man will not make him fall on the day he turns from his wickedness; nor will the righteous man be able to live by his righteousness on the day he sins.
13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he relies on his righteousness and does wrong, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the wrong he has done, he will die.
14 And if I tell the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,
15 if the wicked man returns a pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes that give life, doing no wrong, he will surely live; he will not die.
16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him; he has practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely live.
17 "Yet the sons of your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair,' when it is their own way that is not fair.
18 When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, he will die because of it.
19 And when a wicked man turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live because of it.
20 Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' House of Israel, I will judge each of you by his ways."
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has been struck down."
22 The hand of the LORD had come upon me the evening before the survivor arrived, and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened, and I was speechless no longer.
23 The word of the LORD came to me:
24 "Son of man, the people living in those ruins on the soil of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was just one man, yet he took possession of the land; we are many, so the land has surely been given to us to possess.'
25 So tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat meat with the blood in it, lift your eyes to your idols and shed blood; and you expect to possess the land?
26 You lean on your sword, you do abominable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; and you expect to possess the land?
27 Tell them this: Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword; those in the open field I will give to the animals to be eaten; and those in the strongholds and caves will die of pestilence.
28 I will make the land a desolate ruin; her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one crosses them.
29 Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolate ruin because of all the abominations they have committed.
30 "As for you, Son of man, the sons of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of their houses; they say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come and hear what word has come from the LORD.'
31 They come to you as crowds do and sit in front of you as my people and hear your words, but they will not act on them. With their mouths they express much love, but their heart is set on their own profit.
32 To them you are just like a love song sung by someone with a lovely voice who plays an instrument well; they hear your words, but they do not act on them.
33 When it comes (and it surely will come), they will know that a prophet has been in their midst."