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

2Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, If there be a land over which I bring the sword, and the people of the land take a man from among themselves, and appoint him unto themselves for a watchman;

3And if he see the sword coming over the land, and blow the cornet, and warn the people;

4And whosoever heareth the sound of the cornet, and taketh no warning; and the sword cometh, and taketh him away: his blood shall be upon his own head.

5The sound of the cornet hath he heard, and he hath taken no warning; his blood shall be upon him. But had he taken warning he would have delivered his soul.

6But if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the cornet, so that the people be not warned, and the sword cometh, and taketh away from among them some person: this one is taken away for his iniquity; but his blood will I require from the watchman's hand.

7But as for thee, O son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: so that when thou hearest a word from my mouth, thou shalt warn them from me.

8When I say unto the wicked, O wicked one, thou shalt surely die; and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way: that wicked one shall die for his iniquity; but his blood will I require from thy hand.

9Nevertheless, if thou hast indeed warned the wicked of his way to turn away from it, and he do not turn from his way: he shall certainly die for his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10But thou, O son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus do ye speak, saying, Truly our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them do we pine away: how then shall we live?

11Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Eternal, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but in the return of the wicked from his way that he may live: return ye, return ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12But thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble through it on the day that he returneth from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live through the other on the day that he sinneth.

13When I say of the righteous, that he shall surely live, and he trusteth to his own righteousness, and committeth what is wrong: all his righteous deeds shall not be remembered, and for his wrong that he hath committed,—through this shall he die.

14Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and he turneth from his sin, and executeth justice and righteousness;

15If the wicked restore the pledge, make restitution for what he hath robbed, walk in the statutes of life, so as not to do any wrong: he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16All his sins that he hath committed shall not be remembered unto him: justice and righteousness hath he executed, he shall surely live.

17Yet say the children of thy people, The way of the Lord is not equitable: while, as to them, their way is not equitable.

18When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and doth what is wrong, he shall even die therefore.

19And when the wicked returneth from his wickedness, and executeth justice and righteousness, he shall surely live therefore.

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

21And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month after our exile, that there came unto me one that had escaped out of Jerusalem, saying, The city hath been smitten.

22Now the inspiration of the Lord was come upon me in the evening, before the coming of the one who had escaped; and he had opened my mouth, before he was come to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened and I was not kept dumb any more.

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

24Son of man, they that dwell in these ruins in the land of Israel say as followeth, But one man was Abraham, and he obtained the land as an inheritance; and as we are many, the land must [surely] be given to us for an inheritance.

25Therefore say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, By the blood do ye eat, and your eyes do you lift up toward your idols, and blood do ye shed: and ye expect to possess the land?

26Ye depend upon your sword, ye commit abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife: and ye expect to possess the land?

27Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, As I live, surely those that are in the ruined places shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts that they may devour him, and those that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die through the pestilence.

28And I will render the land desolate and wasted, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none to pass through them.

29And they shall experience that I am the Lord, when I render the land desolate and wasted, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30And thou, son of man, [there are] the children of thy people, who are talking about thee by the walls and in the entrances of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Do come, and hear what the word is which cometh forth from the Lord.

31And then they come unto thee as the people come, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but do not execute them; for as merry songs they carry them in their mouth, while their heart goeth after their unlawful gains.

32And, lo, thou art unto them as a merry song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well: and [thus] they hear thy words, but execute them not.

33But when it cometh to pass, [lo, it will come,] then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.