Ezekiel the Watchman for Israel 1 Brenton And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, BSB BSB: Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Brenton Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and thou shalt say to them, On whatsoever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take one man of them, and set him for their watchman: BSB BSB: “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,
3 Brenton and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people; BSB BSB: and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.
4 Brenton and he that hears the sound of the trumpet shall hear indeed , and yet not take heed, and the sword shall come upon him, and overtake him, his blood shall be upon his own head. BSB BSB: Then if anyone hears the sound of the horn but fails to heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
5 Brenton Because he heard the sound of the trumpet, and took no heed, his blood shall be upon him: but the other, because he took heed, has delivered his soul. BSB BSB: Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
6 Brenton But if the watchman see the sword coming, and do not sound the trumpet, and the people do not watch; and the sword come, and take a soul from among them, that soul is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood thereof will I require at the watchman's hand. BSB BSB: But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’
7 Brenton And thou, son of man, I have set thee as a watchman to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear a word from my mouth. BSB BSB: As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them the warning from Me.
8 Brenton When I say to the sinner, Thou shalt surely die; if thou speak not to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. BSB BSB: If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
9 Brenton But if thou forewarn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but thou hast delivered thine own soul. BSB BSB: But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
The Message of the Watchman 10 Brenton And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel; Thus have ye spoken, saying, Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live? BSB BSB: Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
12 Brenton Say to the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him, in the day wherein he errs: and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not harm him, in the day wherein he turns from his iniquity, but the righteous erring shall not be able to deliver himself. BSB BSB: Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’
13 Brenton When I say to the righteous, Thou shalt live; and he trusts in his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity, none of his righteousnesses shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has wrought, in it shall he die. BSB BSB: If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
14 Brenton And when I say to the ungodly, Thou shalt surely die; and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgment and justice, BSB BSB: But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right—
15 Brenton and return the pledge, and repay that which he has robbed, and walk in the ordinances of life, so as to do no wrong; he shall surely live, and shall not die. BSB BSB: if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die.
16 Brenton None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered: because he has wrought judgment and righteousness; by them shall he live. BSB BSB: None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.
17 Brenton Yet the children of thy people will say, The way of the Lord is not straight: whereas this their way is not straight. BSB BSB: Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.
18 Brenton When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them. BSB BSB: If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.
19 Brenton And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgment and righteousness, he shall live by them. BSB BSB: But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.
20 Brenton And this is that which ye said, The way of the Lord is not straight. I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one for his ways. BSB BSB: Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”
Word of Jerusalem’s Fall 21 Brenton And it came to pass in the tenth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is taken. BSB BSB: In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
22 Brenton Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and he opened my mouth, when he came to me in the morning: and my mouth was open, it was no longer kept closed. BSB BSB: Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
23 Brenton And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 Brenton Son of man, they that inhabit the desolate places on the land of Israel say, Abraam was one, and he possessed the land: and we are more numerous; to us the land is given for a possession. BSB BSB: “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
25 Brenton Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord God, BSB BSB: Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
27 Brenton As I live, surely they that are in the desolate places shall fall by swords, and they that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and them that are in the fortified cities and them that are in the caves I will slay with pestilence.BSB BSB: Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.
28 Brenton And I will make the land desert, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate by reason of no man passing through. BSB BSB: I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
29 Brenton And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desert, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have wrought. BSB BSB: Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’
30 Brenton And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people are they that speak concerning thee by the walls, and in the porches of the houses, and they talk one to another, saying, Let us come together, and let us hear the words that proceed from the Lord. BSB BSB: As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!’
31 Brenton They approach thee as a people comes together, and sit before thee, and hear thy words, but they will not do them: for there is falsehood in their mouth, and their heart goes after their pollutions. BSB BSB: So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
32 Brenton And thou art to them as the sound of a sweet, well-tuned psaltery, and they will hear thy words, but they will not do them. BSB BSB: Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.
33 Brenton But whenever it shall come to pass , they will say, Behold, it is come: and they shall know that there was a prophet in the midst of them. BSB BSB: So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”