Ezekiel 33

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,	1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 'Son of man, speak to the people of your country. Say to them, "When I send the sword against thepeople of that country, take one of their number and post him as a watchman;	2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and you shall say to them: Concerning the land, when I will have led the sword over it: if the people of the land take a man, one of their least, and appoint him over themselves as a watchman,
3 if he sees the sword coming against the country, he must sound his horn to warn the people.	3 and if he sees the sword approaching over the land, and he sounds the trumpet, and he announces to the people,
4 If someone hears the sound of the horn but pays no attention and the sword overtakes him anddestroys him, he wil have been responsible for his own death.	4 then, having heard the sound of the trumpet, whoever he is, if he also does not take care of himself, and the sword arrives and takes him: his blood will be upon his own head.
5 He has heard the sound of the horn and paid no attention; his death wil be his own responsibility. But the life of someone who pays attention will be secure.	5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and he did not take care of himself, so his blood will be upon him. But if he guards himself, he will save his own life.
6 "If, however, the watchman has seen the sword coming but has not blown his horn, and so the peopleare not alerted and the sword overtakes them and destroys a single one of them, that person wil indeed die forhis guilt, but I shal hold the watchman responsible for his death."	6 And if the watchman sees the sword approaching, and he does not sound the trumpet, and so the people do not guard themselves, and the sword arrives and takes some of their lives, certainly these have been taken due to their own iniquity. But I will attribute their blood to the hand of the watchman.
7 'Son of man I have appointed you as watchman for the House of Israel. When you hear a word frommy mouth, warn them from me.	7 And as for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore, having heard the word from my mouth, you shall announce it to them from me.
8 If I say to someone wicked, "Evil- doer, you are to die," and you do not speak to warn the wickedperson to renounce such ways, the wicked person wil die for this guilt, but I shal hold you responsible for thedeath.	8 When I say to the impious, ‘O impious man, you will die a death,’ if you have not spoken so that the impious man will keep himself from his way, then that impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his blood to your hand.
9 If, however, you do warn someone wicked to renounce such ways and repent, and that person doesnot repent, then the culprit wil die for this guilt, but you yourself wil have saved your life.	9 But if you have announced to the impious man, so that he may be converted from his ways, and he has not converted from his way, then he will die in his iniquity. Yet you will have freed your own soul.
10 'Son of man, say to the House of Israel, "You are continual y saying: Our crimes and sins weighheavily on us; we are wasting away because of them. How are we to go on living?"	10 You, therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken in this way, saying: ‘Our iniquities and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them. So then, how would we be able to live?’
11 Say to them, "As I live -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- I do not take pleasure in the death of thewicked but in the conversion of the wicked who changes his ways and saves his life. Repent, turn back from yourevil ways. Why die, House of Israel?"	11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I do not desire the death of the impious, but that the impious should convert from his way and live. Be converted, be converted from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?
12 'Son of man, say to the members of your nation, "The uprightness of an upright person wil not savehim once he takes to wrong-doing; the wickedness of a wicked person wil not ruin him once he renounces hiswickedness. No one upright wil be able to live on the strength of uprightness, having once taken to sinning.	12 And as for you then, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The justice of the just man will not deliver him, on whatever day he will have sinned. And the impiety of the impius man will not harm him, on whatever day he will have been converted from his impiety. And the just man will not be able to live by his justice, on whatever day he will have sinned.
13 If I say to someone upright: You are to live, and then, trusting in this uprightness, he does wrong,none of the uprightness wil be remembered; because of the wrong-doing, he will die.	13 Even now, if I say to the just man that he shall certainly live, and so, with confidence in his justice, he commits iniquity, all his justices will be delivered into oblivion, and by his iniquity, which he has done, by this he shall die.
14 If, however, I say to someone wicked: You are to die, and he turns back from sin and does what islawful and upright,	14 And if I say to the impious man, ‘You shall certainly die,’ and yet he repents from his sin, and he does judgment and justice,
15 if he returns pledges, restores what he has stolen, keeps the laws that give life and no longer doeswrong, he wil live and wil not die.	15 and if that impious man returns the collateral, and repays what he has taken by force, and if he walks in the commandments of life, and does not do anything unjust, then he shall certainly live, and he shall not die.
16 None of his previous sins wil be remembered against him; having done what is lawful and upright, hewil live.	16 None of his sins, which he has committed, will be imputed to him. He has done judgment and justice, so he shall certainly live.
17 "But the members of your nation say: What the Lord does is unjust. But it is what you do that isunjust.	17 And the sons of your people have said, ‘The way of the Lord is not a fair balance,’ even while their own way is unjust.
18 When an upright person gives up being upright and does wrong, he dies for it.	18 For when the just man will have withdraw from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by these.
19 And when a wicked person gives up being wicked and does what is lawful and upright, because ofthis he lives.	19 And when the impious man will have withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and justice, he shall live by these.
20 But you say: What the Lord does is unjust! I shal judge each of you by what you do, House of Israel."'	20 And yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But I shall judge each one of you according to his own ways, O house of Israel.”
21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive arrived fromJerusalem and said to me, 'The city has been taken.'	21 And it happened that, in the twelfth year of our transmigration, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, one who had fled from Jerusalem arrived saying, “The city has been laid waste.”
22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the fugitive arrived; he had opened mymouth before the fugitive came to me the next morning; my mouth had been opened and I was dumb no longer.	22 But the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the one who had fled arrived. And he opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning. And since my mouth had been opened, I was no longer silent.
23 The word of Yahweh was then addressed to me as follows,	23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 'Son of man, the people living in those ruins on the soil of Israel say this, "Abraham was alone whenhe was given possession of this country. But we are many; the country has been given us as our heritage."	24 “Son of man, as for those who live in these ruinous ways on the soil of Israel, when speaking, they say: ‘Abraham was one man, and he possessed the land as an inheritance. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’
25 'Very wel , tell them, "The Lord Yahweh says this: You eat blood, you raise your eyes to your foulidols, you shed blood; are you to own the country?	25 Therefore, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: You who eat even the blood, and who lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and who shed blood: will you possess the land as an inheritance?
26 You rely on your swords, you engage in loathsome practices, each of you defiles his neighbour'swife; are you to own the country?"	26 You stood by your swords, you committed abominations, and each one has defiled his neighbor’s wife. And will you possess the land as an inheritance?
27 Tel them this, "The Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, I swear it, those in the ruins wil fal to thesword, those in the countryside I shal give to the wild animals for them to eat, and those among the crags and incaves wil die of plague.	27 You shall say these things to them: So says the Lord God: As I live, those who live in ruinous ways will fall by the sword. And whoever is in the field will be delivered over to wild beasts to be devoured. But those who are in fortresses and in caves will die of the pestilence.
28 I shal make the country a desolate waste, and the pride of its strength will be at an end. Themountains of Israel wil be deserted and no one will pass that way again.	28 And I will make the land into a wilderness and a desert. And its arrogant strength will fail. And the mountains of Israel will be desolate; for there will be no one who crosses through them.
29 Then they wil know that I am Yahweh, when I make the country a desolate waste because of all thefilthy things they have done."	29 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have make their land desolate and deserted, because of all their abominations, which they have worked.
30 'Son of man, the members of your nation are talking about you on the ramparts and in doorways.They keep saying to one another, "Come and hear the word that has come from Yahweh."	30 And as for you, O son of man: the sons of your people speak about you beside the walls and in the doorways of houses. And they speak to one another, each man to his neighbor, saying: ‘Come, and let us hear what may be the word going forth from the Lord.’
31 They throng towards you; my people sit down in front of you and listen to your words, but they do notact on them. What they act on is the lie in their mouths, and their hearts are set on dishonest gain.	31 And they come to you, as if the people were entering, and my people sit before you. And they listen to your words, but they do not do them. For they turn them into a song for their mouth, but their heart pursues their own avarice.
32 As far as they are concerned, you are like a love song pleasantly sung to a good musicalaccompaniment. They listen to your words, but no one acts on them.	32 And you are to them like a verse set to music, which is sung with a sweet and pleasing voice. And they hear your words, but they do not do them.
33 When the thing takes place -- and it is beginning now -- they wil know that there has been a prophet among them.'	33 And when what has been predicted occurs, for behold it is approaching, then they shall know that a prophet was among them.”