International Standard Version

New American Standard Bible 1995

1This message came to me from the LORD:

1And the word of the LORD came to 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,

2"Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,

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

3and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns 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 he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on 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.

5'He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life.

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.'"

6'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from 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.

7"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning 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.

8"When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your 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."

9"But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.

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?"'

10"Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have spoken, saying, "Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?"'

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?'"

11"Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you 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.'

12"And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'

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.

13"When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.

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

14"But when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,

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 a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure 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.

16"None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; 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.

17"Yet your fellow citizens say, 'The way of the Lord is not right,' when it is their own way that is not right.

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

18"When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it.

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

19"But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

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!"

20"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to 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."

21Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city has been taken."

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 had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.

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

23Then the word of the LORD came to 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.'

24"Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.'

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?

25"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then 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?'

26"You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then 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.

27"Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of 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."

28"I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will 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.'"

29"Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste 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!'

30"But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, 'Come now and hear what the message is which comes 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.

31"They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.

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!

32"Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

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."

33"So when it comes to pass-- as surely it will-- then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst."

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

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org