International Standard Version

King James Bible

1This message came to me from the LORD:

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

2"Son of Man, speak to your nation's children and tell them: 'If I bring war to a land, and the people of that land appoint one of their conscripted men to serve as a sentinel,

2Son 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:

3and if he notices that violence is approaching and sounds an alarm to warn the people,

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

4then if anyone who hears the sound of the alarm does not heed the warning, when the sword arrives and destroys him, his shed blood will remain his own responsibility.

4Then 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.

5After all, he heard the alarm sounding, but did not heed the warning, so his shed blood will remain his own responsibility. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved himself.

5He 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.

6If that sentinel notices that violence is approaching, but does not sound an alarm, then because the nation does not take warning and the sword arrives and destroys their lives because of their guilt, I'll seek retribution for their shed blood from the one who was acting as sentinel.'"

6But 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.

7"Now as for you, Son of Man, I've established you as a sentinel for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a message from me, you are to warn the people from me.

7So 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.

8If I should say to a certain wicked person, 'You wicked man, you're certainly about to die,' but you don't warn him to turn from his wicked behavior, he'll die in his guilt, but I'll seek retribution for his bloodshed from you.

8When 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.

9However, if you warn the wicked to turn from his behavior and he does not do so, he will die in his guilt, and you will have saved yourself."

9Nevertheless, 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.

10"'Now, Son of Man, tell this to the house of Israel: 'You keep saying, "Our crimes and sins burden us so much that we're rotting away, so how can we keep on living?"'

10Therefore, 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?

11"Tell them, 'As certainly as I'm alive and living,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?'"

11Say 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?

12"And now, Son of Man, say this to your people: 'The righteousness of the righteous won't save them when they keep on committing crimes against me, the wickedness of the wicked won't keep them from remaining away when they're turning from their wickedness, and no righteous person will keep on living by their righteousness when they sin.'

12Therefore, 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.

13"If I tell the righteous person that he will certainly live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits evil, none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the wrong that he commits.

13When 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.

14"If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness,

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

15returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die.

15If 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.

16None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live.

16None 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.

17"Nevertheless, your people's children keep saying, 'Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' when all the while it is their way of living that isn't right.

17Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

18When a righteous man forsakes his own righteousness and commits evil acts, he will die because of those acts,

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

19and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that.

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

20"And yet you keep saying, 'Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' But I will judge every one of you according to the way you live, you house of Israel!"

20Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

21On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a fugitive who had escaped from Jerusalem came and informed me, "The city has been destroyed."

21And 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.

22Now the hand of the LORD had been touching me the evening before that fugitive arrived, so the LORD had given me something to say by the time the messenger arrived the next morning. He opened my mouth and I no longer had nothing to say to him.

22Now 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.

23As a result, this message came to me from the LORD:

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

24"Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, 'Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we're a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'

24Son 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.

25So tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "You keep eating flesh along with its blood, you keep looking to your idols, and you keep shedding blood, and you're going to take possession of the land?

25Wherefore 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?

26You keep trusting in your weapons, you continue to commit loathsome deeds, men keep defiling their neighbors' wives, and you're going to take possession of the land?'

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

27"Tell them this: 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "As certainly as I'm alive and living, those who live in the wastelands are certain to die violently, I'll give those who die in the open fields to the wild animals for food, and whoever takes refuge in caves and fortified places will die of diseases.

27Say 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.

28Then I'll turn the land into a desolate ruin and her arrogant strength will come to an abrupt end. The mountains of Israel will become so desolate that no one will be able to travel over them."

28For 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.

29Then they'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've turned their land into a desolate wasteland because of all of the loathsome deeds that they've committed.'"

29Then 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.

30"Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation's children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, 'Please come! Let's go hear what the LORD has to say!'

30Also, 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.

31Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words—and then they don't do what you say— because they're seeking only their own desires, they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests.

31And 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.

32As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They'll listen to what you have to say, but they won't put it into practice!

32And, 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.

33When all of this comes about—and you can be sure that it will!—they'll learn that a prophet has been in their midst."

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

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.