Ezekiel the Watchman for Israel
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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, Ezk 33:30Ezk 14:17Ezk 3:11Ezk 33:17Ezk 3:27Isa 62:6Jer 15:2-3Zec 13:7 and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people. Hos 8:1Neh 4:20Isa 58:1Jer 4:5Jol 2:1Neh 4:18Ezk 33:8-9Jer 51:27
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. Ezk 18:13Act 18:6Ezk 33:9Jer 6:172Ch 25:16Ezk 33:5Zec 1:2-41Ki 2:37 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. Exo 9:19-21Heb 11:7Jhn 8:392Ki 6:10Act 2:37-41Heb 2:1-3Isa 51:2Psa 95:7
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.’ Ezk 3:18-202Sa 4:11Ezk 33:8-9Gen 42:22Ezk 18:20Gen 9:5Ezk 18:24Ezk 34:10
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. Jer 26:2Ezk 3:17-21Ezk 2:7-8Act 5:20Heb 13:17Isa 62:6Jer 1:171Th 4:1-2 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. Act 20:26-27Ezk 33:6Ezk 33:14Ezk 18:4Ezk 18:20Gen 3:4Ezk 18:18Isa 3:11 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. 1 Ezk 3:19Act 20:26Ezk 3:21Pro 15:101Th 4:3-81Th 5:142Co 2:15-17Act 13:40
The Message of the Watchman
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?’ Ezk 37:11Isa 49:14Ezk 24:23Ezk 4:17Lev 26:39Isa 51:20Jer 2:25Psa 130:7
Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ 1Ti 2:4Ezk 18:232Pe 3:9Isa 55:6-7Act 3:19Pro 8:36Ezk 18:30-32Jer 3:22
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.’ 2Ch 7:14Ezk 33:18-19Rom 3:251Jn 2:11Ki 8:48-50Ezk 18:21Ezk 18:24-32Ezk 3:20-21
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. Ezk 18:24Heb 10:38Ezk 18:4Ezk 3:20Luk 18:9-141Jn 2:192Pe 2:20-22Php 3:9
But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— Ezk 18:27Ezk 33:8Hos 14:1Isa 55:7Jer 18:7-8Mic 6:8Pro 28:13Act 3:19 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. Ezk 20:11Luk 19:8Exo 22:1-4Ezk 18:7Lev 18:5Lev 6:2-5Psa 119:93Amo 2:8 None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. Ezk 18:22Isa 43:25Mic 7:18-19Isa 1:18Isa 44:22Rom 5:161Jn 2:1-3Rom 5:21
Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. Ezk 18:25Ezk 18:29Mat 25:24-26Ezk 33:20Job 35:2Job 40:8Luk 19:21-22 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. Ezk 33:12-132Pe 2:20-22Heb 10:38Ezk 18:26-27Ezk 3:20 But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this. Ezk 18:27-28Ezk 33:14
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.” Mat 16:27Ezk 18:252Co 5:10Ecc 12:14Ezk 18:29-30Ezk 33:17Jhn 5:29Pro 19:3
Word of Jerusalem’s Fall
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!” Ezk 1:22Ch 36:17-212Ki 24:4-72Ki 25:102Ki 25:4Ezk 24:26-27Ezk 32:1Ezk 40:1
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. Ezk 1:3Ezk 24:26-27Ezk 3:26-27Ezk 37:1Ezk 3:22Ezk 40:1Luk 1:64
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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.’ Act 7:5Ezk 33:27Isa 51:2Ezk 36:4Jer 40:7Luk 3:8Jer 39:10Mat 3:9
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? Deu 12:16Gen 9:4Jer 7:9-10Ezk 18:6Ezk 22:27Ezk 22:6Lev 3:171Sa 14:32-34 You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’ Gen 27:40Mic 2:1-2Zep 3:31Ki 11:5-71Pe 4:31Sa 2:30Deu 29:18-23Deu 4:25-26
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. 1Sa 13:6Jer 42:22Ezk 39:41Sa 22:11Sa 23:141Sa 24:3Ezk 33:24Ezk 5:12-17 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. Ezk 7:24Ezk 24:21Ezk 6:14Jer 44:2Jer 44:22Jer 44:6Mic 7:132Ch 36:21 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.’ Ezk 6:72Ch 36:14-172Ki 17:9-18Exo 14:18Ezk 22:2-15Ezk 22:25-31Ezk 23:49Ezk 25:11
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!’ Isa 29:13Isa 58:2Jer 23:35Mat 15:8Mat 22:16-17Jer 11:18-19Jer 18:18Jer 42:1-6
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. Psa 78:36-37Mat 13:22Jas 1:22-24Isa 29:13Luk 11:28Jas 2:14-16Ezk 8:1Jer 44:16 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. Mrk 6:20Jhn 5:35Mrk 4:16-17 So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Jer 28:91Sa 3:19-20Ezk 2:52Ki 5:8Ezk 33:29Luk 10:11