Ezekiel Chapter 33

Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman

         33^:1A message from the LORD came to me:

² “Tell your people, ‘If I bring the sword on a country, and the people’s watchman ³ blows the ram’s horn to warn them— ⁴ then those who don’t pay attention are responsible for their own death. ⁵ If they’d taken warning, they would’ve saved their life. ⁶ If the watchman sees the sword coming and doesn’t warn the people, if the sword takes some people, they’ll be taken away in their sin, but I’ll hold the watchman responsible for it.’

⁷ “Son of man, I’ve made you a watchman for Israel so you’ll hear a message from me to warn them. ⁸ When I tell sinful people they’re going to die, but you don’t warn them, they’ll die in their sin, but I’ll hold you responsible for it.  ⁹ But if you warn them and they don’t turn from your way, they’ll die in their sin, but you’ve saved your life.  

Ezek 33:1-9

¹⁰ “Now, son of man, tell Israel, ‘You’ve said, “Our sins are on us and we’re rotting away in them. How can we survive?”’ ¹¹ Tell them, ‘As I live,’ the Lord GOD says, ‘I don’t get any satisfaction out of seeing sinful people die. I want them to turn from their way and live. Turn back from your sinful way! Why die, Israel?’ ¹² Son of man, tell your fellow citizens, ‘People’s goodness won’t deliver them when they sin. People’s sinfulness won’t prevent them from living when they quit doing it. Good people can’t have life from goodness when they practice sin. ¹³ When I say to good people they’ll surely live and they presume on their goodness and keep sinning, I won’t consider their good deeds; they’ll die in that sin. ¹⁴ But when I say to sinful people, ‘You’ll surely die,’ and they quit sinning— ¹⁵ if they return a pledge, repay what they stole, follow the statutes that give life and don’t sin—they’ll surely live. ¹⁶ I won’t hold their past sins against them. They’re doing good; they’ll live.

Ezek 33:10-16

¹⁷ “Yet your people say, ‘The Lord’s way is not right,’ when it’s their own way that’s not right. ¹⁸ When good people turn from their goodness, they’ll die because now they’re practicing sin. ¹⁹ When sinful people turn from their sinfulness, they’ll live because they’re practicing goodness. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s way is not right.’ House of Israel, I’ll judge each of you by your own ways.”

Ezek 33:17-20

Israel’s Fall Explained

²¹ The fifth day, tenth month, twelfth year of our exile, refugees from Jerusalem arrived to tell me the city had fallen. ²²The LORD’s hand had been heavy on me the evening before. When they came the next morning, he made me able to talk again.

                  ²³A message from him came to me:

²⁴ “Son of man, those who live in Israel’s waste places 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.’ ²⁵ Tell them the Lord GOD says, ‘You eat meat with blood in it and look up to your idols as you shed innocent blood. Should you have the land? ²⁶ You rely on your sword, you commit disgusting deeds, you defile your neighbor’s wife. Should you have the land? ²⁷ As I live, those who live in the waste places will fall by the sword. Whoever is in the open country wild animals will kill. The ones in strongholds and caves will die from disease. ²⁸ I’ll make the land desolate; pride about its power will stop. Israel’s mountains will be so desolate nobody can get through them. ²⁹ They’ll know I’m the LORD when I make the land desolate because of their disgusting deeds.’  

Ezek 33:21-29

³⁰ “Son of man, your fellow citizens talk about you by the walls and in their doorways, ‘Come on, let’s hear a message from the LORD.’ ³¹ They come and sit with you like my people, but they do the lustful things they talk about and set their hearts on making money. ³² As far as they’re concerned, you’re someone with a beautiful voice that plays an instrument well and sings love songs. They hear what you’re saying, but they don’t do it. ³³ So when what you say does happen—as it surely will—they’ll know a prophet was among them.”        Ezek 33:30-33