1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
2 "Son of man, speak to {your people}, and you must say to them, 'A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman,
3 and he sees the sword coming against the land, and he blows on the horn and he warns the people,
4 and {anyone who listens} hears the sound of the horn and {he does not take warning} and [the] sword comes and it takes him, his blood will be on his [own] head.
5 [For] he heard the sound of the horn and he did not take warning; his blood will be on him. But [if] he took warning, he saved his life.
6 And [as for] the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and {he does not blow} the horn, and the people [are] not warned, and [the] sword comes and it takes {their lives}, he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.'
7 "And you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; if you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me.
8 {When I say} to the wicked, 'Wicked [one], you will certainly die,' and you {did not speak} to warn [the] wicked from his way, he, [the] wicked, will die by his guilt, but his blood I will seek from your hand.
9 But, you, if you warn [the] wicked from his way, to turn from it, and {he does not turn} from his way, he will die by his guilt, and you will have saved your life.
10 "And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, {saying}, 'So you said, {saying}, "Indeed, our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, and because of them we [are] rotting, and how can we live?" '
11 Say to them, '{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{Surely I have no delight} in the death of the wicked, {except} in [the] wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil [ones], for why should you die, house of Israel?'
12 "So you, son of man, say to {your people} [that] the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked {will not cause him to stumble} on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and [the] righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin.
13 When I say to the righteous, 'Certainly he will live,' and he trusted in his righteousness, and he [turns and he] does injustice, all of his righteousness will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die.
14 And when I say to the wicked, 'Certainly you will die,' but he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness--
15 [for example], [the] wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores {stolen property}, he goes in the statutes of life [so as] not to do injustice--certainly he will live; he will not die.
16 All of his {sins that he committed}, they will not be remembered against him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live.
17 "Yet {your people} say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [yet] their way is not fair.
18 When [the] righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die {because of it}.
19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and he does justice and righteousness, because of it {he will certainly live}!
20 Yet you said, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' I will judge you, house of Israel, each [person] according to his ways."
21 {And then} it was in {the twelfth} year, in the tenth [month], on the fifth [day] of the month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, {saying}, "The city was destroyed!"
22 And the hand of Yahweh was on me on the evening {before} the coming of the survivor, and he opened my mouth {before the survivor came to me in the morning}, and my mouth was opened, and I was {no longer} dumb.
23 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
24 "Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel [are] saying, 'Abraham was one [man], and he took possession of the land, and we [are] many; the land has been given for us as possession.'
25 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood [in your meat], and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?
26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and {each man defiles} the wife of his neighbor, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?" '
27 "Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.
28 And I will make the land desolation and wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate {with no one traveling through them}." '
29 And they will know that I [am] Yahweh when I make my land desolation and wasteland, because of all of their detestable things that they have done.
30 "And you, son of man, {your people}, the ones talking together concerning you beside the walls and in the doorways of the houses, each one with his brother {saying}, 'Please come and hear what [is] the word {that is going out from Yahweh}.'
31 And they come to you {as people do}, and they sit {before you}, and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they [are] showing passion in their mouth, but their heart [is] going after ill-gotten gain.
32 Now, look! You [are] to them like {a sensual song}, beautiful of voice and {played well on an instrument}, and they hear your words, {but they are not doing them}.
33 So {when it comes}, look! It is coming! And [then] they will know that a prophet was in the midst of them."