Ezekiel 33 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Israel’s Restoration^[a]

Chapter 33

Ezekiel as Sentry. ¹ This word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, speak to your fellow countrymen and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a country, and the people of that country designate one of their number to be their watchman, ³ and if he sees the sword coming against that country and blows his trumpet to warn the people, ⁴ then if any who hear the sound of the trumpet pay no attention to the warning, and the sword comes against them and destroys them, they shall bear the responsibility for their own death.

⁵ Since they had heard the sound of the trumpet and nevertheless ignored the warning, their blood will be on their own heads. But if they had heeded the warning, they would have saved their lives. ⁶ However, if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the trumpet to warn the people, and the sword then comes and slays anyone, I will hold the watchman responsible for that person’s death.

⁷ I have appointed you, son of man, as a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must pass along my warning to them. ⁸ If I say to the wicked person, “You shall surely die,” and you do not speak up to warn that person to renounce his evil ways, he will die because of his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹ However, if you warn a wicked person to renounce his ways and repent, and he fails to do so, then he will die for his guilt, but you will have saved your life.

¹⁰ Message of Conversion.^[b] Son of man, say to the house of Israel: You continually complain, “Our crimes and our sins weigh heavily upon us, and we are wasting away because of them. How are we to go on living?” ¹¹ Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather in their decision to turn from their evil ways and live. Repent and turn from your evil ways. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

¹² As for you, son of man, say to your countrymen: The virtue of a righteous man will not save him when he transgresses. Nor will the evil deeds of a wicked man cause his downfall once he renounces his wickedness, any more than the righteous will be able to live by their righteousness when they sin.

¹³ If I say to the righteous that they will surely live, but then they presume on their righteousness and commit iniquity, none of their righteous deeds will be remembered. Because of the wrong they have done, they will die.

¹⁴ Again, if I say to the wicked that they will surely die, and then they turn away from sin and do what is lawful and upright, ¹⁵ give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, adhere to the practices that ensure life, and commit no wrongful acts, they shall surely live; they shall not die. ¹⁶ None of the previous sins they committed will be remembered against them. Because they have done what is lawful and upright, they shall surely live.

¹⁷ Yet your countrymen say, “The way of the Lord is not just,” when it is their own way that is not just. ¹⁸ When a virtuous man turns away from his righteous ways and does wrong, he shall die for it. ¹⁹ And when a wicked man turns from his wicked ways and does what is lawful and right, he shall live. ²⁰ Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not just.” I will judge each one of you according to your ways, O house of Israel.

²¹ The Fugitive from Jerusalem.^[c] In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive arrived from Jerusalem and said to me, “The city has fallen.” ²² The evening before the fugitive had arrived, the hand of the Lord had come on me, but he had opened my mouth by the time the fugitive had come to me in the morning. Therefore, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer unable to speak.

²³ Desolation in Judah. This word of the Lord then came to me: ²⁴ Son of man, those people who live in the ruins of the land of Israel say repeatedly, “Even though he was merely one person, Abraham received possession of this country. But we are many in number. Surely the land has been given to us as our possession.”

²⁵ Tell them this in response: Thus says the Lord God: You consume meat with the blood still in it, you raise your eyes to worship idols, and you shed blood. Should you then be permitted to possess the land? ²⁶ You rely on your swords, you engage in abominable practices, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then be permitted to possess the land?

²⁷ Give them this message: Thus says the Lord God: As I live, I swear that those who dwell in the ruins shall fall by the sword, those who live in the countryside I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those who inhabit dens and caves will die of the plague. ²⁸ I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. Furthermore, the mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will cross them. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominable deeds that they have committed.

³⁰ Ezekiel’s False Popularity. As for you, son of man, your fellow countrymen gossip incessantly about you along the walls and in the doorways of houses, saying to one another, “Let us go to hear what message the Lord has to give us.” ³¹ My people come to you, as they are accustomed to do. They sit down in front of you and listen to your words, but they refuse to obey them. They flatter you with their lips, but their hearts are only interested in dishonest gain.

³² To them you are like a singer of lovely songs with a beautiful voice and skill in playing a musical instrument. They listen to your words, but they refuse to obey them. ³³ But when all this comes to pass—and that moment is soon approaching—they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 33:1 “I will make a covenant of peace with them . . ., and establish my sanctuary among them forever” (Ezek 37:26). This promise is the basic motif of this section of the Book.
2. Ezekiel 33:10 We find here, in fuller form and as an invitation to a fullness of life, the great idea of personal retribution that has already been stated in Ezek 18:1-32 and will be repeated in chapter 36.
3. Ezekiel 33:21 The fugitive who brings news of the disaster has already been mentioned in Ezek 3:22-27; 24:26.