1And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2"Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; 3If, when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blows the ram's horn and warns the people, 4Then whoever hears the sound of the ram's horn and does not take warning, if the sword does come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5He heard the sound of the ram's horn and did not take warning. His blood shall be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his life. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the ram's horn and the people are not warned; if the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But I will require his blood at the watchman's hand. '

7And you, son of man, I have set you as watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear the Word from My mouth, and warn them from Me. 8When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked one, you shall surely die;' if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand. 9But, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

10And you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel. Thus shall you speak, saying, 'When our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are wasting away in them, how then shall we live?' 11Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no delight in the death of the wicked, except that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?' 12Therefore, son of man, say to the children of your 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 by it in the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins. ' 13When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it. 14Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die;' if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right; 15If the wicked restores back the pledge, gives back again what he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, then he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

17Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the LORD is not fair. ' But as for them, it is their way that is not fair. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall even die in it. 19But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live in it. 20Yet you say, 'The way of the LORD is not fair. ' O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways."

21And it was in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city is taken." 22And the LORD'S hand was on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came. And He had opened my mouth when he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was dumb no more.

23And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24"Son of man, those who live in those wastes of the land of Israel are speaking, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land is given to us for an inheritance. ' 25Wherefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord, "You eat meat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; and shall you possess the land? 26You stand upon your sword, you work abomination, every man defiling his neighbor's wife. And shall you possess the land?" ' 27Speak to them in this way, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and I will give him who is in the open field to the beasts to be eaten, and those in the forts and in the caves shall die of the plague. 28For I shall make the land most desolate, and the pride of her power shall cease. And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. 29And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed." '

30And you, son of man, the children of your people are still talking about you by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speaking to one another, each man to his brother, saying, 'I pray you, come and hear what is the word which comes forth from the LORD. ' 31And they come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words. But they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness. 32And lo, you are to them as a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, and able to play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. 33And when this comes to pass; (behold, it will come) then they shall know that a prophet has been among them."