A Watchman for Israel

16 ^sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ^t“Son of man, ^uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^vgive them warning from me. 18 ^wIf I say to the wicked, ^x‘You shall surely die,’ ^vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^yshall die for¹ his iniquity, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 19 ^aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^bbut you ^cwill have delivered your soul. 20 ^dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

Why Will You Die, Israel?

10 “And you, ^fson of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^gwe rot away because of them. ^hHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, ⁱAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^jI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^kturn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^kfor why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 ^t“And you, son of man, say to ^lyour people, ^mThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ⁿand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^mand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness¹ when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^mif 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, ^othough I say to the wicked, ^p‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^qif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked ^rrestores the pledge, ^sgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^tin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 ^uNone 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 ^lyour people say, ^v‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 ^wWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And ^xwhen 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, ^yI will judge each of you according to his ways.”