Ezekiel 33:1-20

Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 t "Son of man, speak to u your people and say to them, If v I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their w watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and x blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, y his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 z He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 a But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, a that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

7 b "So you, t son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. b Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 c If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, c and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, c that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 d But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, d that person shall die in his iniquity, e but you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

10 "And you, f son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and g we rot away because of them. h How then can we live?' 11 Say to them, i As I live, declares the Lord God, j I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; k turn back, turn back from your evil ways, k for why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 t "And you, son of man, say to l your people, m The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, n and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, m and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness 1 when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet m if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, o though I say to the wicked, p 'You shall surely die,' yet q if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked r restores the pledge, s gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks t in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 u None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 "Yet l your people say, v 'The way of the Lord is not just,' when it is their own way that is not just. 18 w When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And x when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, y I will judge each of you according to his ways."

  1. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:12
    And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
    Ezekiel 33:17
    Yet your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not just,' when it is their own way that is not just.
    Ezekiel 33:30
    "As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.'
    Ezekiel 3:11
    And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they hear or refuse to hear.
    Ezekiel 37:18
    And when your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what you mean by these?
  3. Cross References
    Ezekiel 14:17
    Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast.
  4. Cross References
    Micah 7:4
    The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.
  5. Cross References
    Amos 3:6
    Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?
  6. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:13
    Lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.
    Ezekiel 3:18
    If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:19
    But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:18
    If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  9. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:18
    If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  10. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:17
    Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
  11. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:17
    Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
  12. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:2
    Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman.
  13. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:6
    But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
  14. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:6
    But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:6
    But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
  16. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:4
    Then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
  17. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:4
    Then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
  18. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:19
    But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
    1 Timothy 4:16
    Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
  19. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  20. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:17
    I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment.
  21. Cross References
    Ezekiel 37:11
    Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.
    Isaiah 49:14
    But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.
  22. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:48
    As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.
  23. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:23
    Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
  24. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:31
    Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?
  25. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:31
    Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?
  26. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:2
    Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman.
  27. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:2
    Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman.
  28. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:18
    When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.
    Ezekiel 18:24
    But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
  29. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:18
    When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.
    Ezekiel 18:24
    But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
  30. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 7:14
    If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
  31. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:12
    And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
  32. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:18
    If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  33. Cross References
    Genesis 2:17
    But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
  34. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:27
    Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.
  35. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:7
    Does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment.
  36. Cross References
    Leviticus 6:2
    If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor
    Leviticus 6:4 - 5
    If he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found
    Luke 19:8
    And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
  37. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:11
    I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.
  38. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:22
    None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live.
  39. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:12
    And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
  40. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:25
    Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
    Ezekiel 18:29
    Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
  41. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:12 - 13
    And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
    Ezekiel 18:26
    When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die.
  42. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:27
    Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.
    Ezekiel 33:11 - 12
    Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
  43. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:30
    Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.