Ezekiel 33

All 33 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

Read Ezekiel 33 in the Bible reader, with audio →

1. 1The word of the LORD came to me again:
2. 2Son of man, speak to the children of your people and tell them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land choose a man from their borders and appoint him as their watchman,
3. 3If he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,
4. 4then anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
5. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he who takes warning shall deliver his soul.
6. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and doesn't blow the trumpet, and the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes someone away, that person is taken away because of their own sin, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their blood.
7. 7"Now, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a message from me, you must pass my warning on to them.
8. 8If I tell a wicked person, 'You will certainly die,' and you don't speak up to warn that person to change their ways, they will die in their sin — but I will hold you responsible for their death.
9. 9Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity; but you will have delivered your soul.
10. 10Son of man, say to the house of Israel: You keep saying, 'If our transgressions and sins are upon us, and we are wasting away in them, how can we possibly survive?'
11. 11Tell them, 'As I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I want them to turn from their ways and live! Turn back! Turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?'
12. 12Therefore, son of man, say to the children of your people: The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him on the day of his wrongdoing. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall because of it on the day he turns from his wickedness. Neither will the righteous be able to live by his righteousness on the day he sins.
13. 13When I say to the righteous that he will surely live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteous acts will not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he will die for it.
14. 14On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' but they turn away from their sin and start doing what is just and right —
15. 15if they return what they took as collateral, pay back what they stole, and follow the laws that lead to life without committing sin — they will surely live. They will not die.
16. 16None of the sins they previously committed will be held against them. They have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.
17. 17Yet the children of your people say, "The way of the Lord is not fair." But as for them, their way is not fair.
18. 18When a righteous person turns away from doing right and starts sinning, they will die because of it.
19. 19But when a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live because of it.
20. 20Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not fair." O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.
21. 21In the 12th year of our exile, on the 5th day of the 10th month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has fallen!"
22. 22The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of the LORD had come upon me and opened my mouth. So by the time he reached me the next morning, I could speak again — I was no longer mute.
23. 23Then the word of the LORD came to me:
24. 24"Son of man, the people living in the ruins throughout the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was just one man, and he received this whole land. There are many of us — surely the land belongs to us!'
25. 25So tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: You eat meat with the blood still in it, you worship your idols, and you shed innocent blood — and you think you deserve to possess the land?
26. 26You stand upon your swords, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife — and you think you shall possess the land?
27. 27"Tell them this: 'The Lord GOD says: As I live, those living in the ruins will fall by the sword. Those out in the open fields I will give to wild animals to devour. And those hiding in strongholds and caves will die from disease.
28. 28I will make the land completely desolate, and the pomp of its strength will end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will pass through them.
29. 29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land an utter wasteland because of all the abominations they have committed.
30. 30Also, son of man, the children of your people are still talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, each to his brother, saying, "Come, please, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD."
31. 31They come to you as people usually do, and they sit before you as if they are my people. They listen to your words, but they do not follow them. They speak of love with their mouths, but their hearts pursue their own greed.
32. 32To them, you're nothing more than a singer with a beautiful voice who plays an instrument well — they enjoy listening to your words, but they refuse to put them into practice.
33. 33When everything I've said comes true — and it will — then they will finally realize that a prophet was among them."