1And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

2“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and you have said to them: When I bring a sword on a land, || And the people of the land have taken one man out of their borders, || And made him their watchman,

3And he has seen the sword coming against the land, || And has blown with a horn, and has warned the people,

4And the hearer has heard the voice of the horn, and he has not taken warning, || And the sword comes in, and takes him away, || His blood is on his [own] head.

5The voice of the horn he heard, || And he has not taken warning, his blood is on him, || And he who took warning has delivered his soul.

6And the watchman, when he sees the sword coming in, || And he has not blown with a horn, || And the people have not been warned, || And a sword comes in, || And takes away a soul from them, || He is taken away in his iniquity, || And I require his blood from the hand of the watchman.

7And you, son of man, || I gave you [as] a watchman for the house of Israel, || And you have heard a word from My mouth, || And you have warned them from Me.

8In My saying to the wicked, O wicked one—you surely die, || And you have not spoken to warn the wicked from his way, || He—the wicked—dies in his iniquity, || And I require his blood from your hand.

9And you, when you have warned the wicked of his way, to turn back from it, || And he has not turned back from his way, || He dies in his iniquity, || And you have delivered your soul.

10And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken correctly, saying, || Surely our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, || And we are wasting away in them, || How, then, do we live?

11Say to them, [As] I live—a declaration of Lord YHWH, || I do not delight in the death of the wicked, || But in the turning of the wicked from his way, and he has lived. Turn back, turn back, from your evil ways! Indeed, why do you die, O house of Israel?

12And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous does not deliver him in the day of his transgression, || And the wickedness of the wicked, || He does not stumble for it in the day of his turning from his wickedness, || And the righteous is not able to live in it in the day of his sinning.

13In My saying of the righteous: He surely lives, || And—he has trusted on his righteousness, || And he has done perversity, || All his righteous acts are not remembered, || And for his perversity that he has done, || He dies for it.

14And in My saying to the wicked: You surely die, || And—he has turned back from his sin, || And has done judgment and righteousness,

15(The wicked restores a pledge, he repays [for] plunder), || He has walked in the statutes of life, || So as not to do perversity, || He surely lives—he does not die.

16All his sin—his sins that he has sinned—are not remembered against him, || He has done judgment and righteousness, || He surely lives.

17And the sons of your people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, || As for them—their way is not pondered.

18In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, || And he has done perversity—he dies for it.

19And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, || And he has done judgment and righteousness—he lives by them.

20And you have said, The way of the Lord is not pondered; I judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”

21And it comes to pass, in the twelfth year—in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month—of our removal, one who is escaped from Jerusalem comes to me, saying, “The city has been struck.”

22And the hand of YHWH has been to me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He opens my mouth until [his] coming to me in the morning, and my mouth is opened, and I have not been silent again.

23And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

24“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying, Abraham has been alone—and he possesses the land, and we [are] many—the land has been given to us for a possession.

25Therefore say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: You eat with the blood, || And you lift up your eyes to your idols, || And you shed blood, || Should you then inherit the land?

26You have stood on your sword, || You have done abomination, || You have each defiled the wife of his neighbor, || Should you then possess the land?

27Thus you say to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: [As] I live—do they who [are] in the ruins not fall by the sword? And they who [are] on the face of the field, || I have given for food to the beast, || And they who are in strongholds and in caves die by pestilence.

28And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, || And the excellence of its strength has ceased, || And mountains of Israel have been desolated, || Without anyone passing through.

29And they have known that I [am] YHWH, || In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, || For all their abominations that they have done.

30And you, son of man, || The sons of your people who are speaking about you, || By the walls, and in openings of the houses, || Have spoken with one another, each with his brother, || Saying, Please come in, || And hear what the word [is] that comes out from YHWH.

31And they come in to you as the coming in of a people, || And they sit before you—My people, || And have heard your words, and they do not do them, || For they are making unhealthy loves with their mouth, || Their heart is going after their dishonest gain.

32And behold, you [are] as a singer of unhealthy loves to them, || A beautiful voice, and playing well on an instrument, || And they have heard your words, and they are not doing them.

33And in its coming in—behold, it has come, || And they have known that a prophet has been in their midst!”