10 “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are (A)rotting away in them; (B)how then can we [a]survive?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘(C)As I live!’ declares the Lord [b]God, ‘I take (D)no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked (E)turn from his way and live. (F)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12 And you, son of man, say to [c]your fellow citizens, ‘The (G)righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will (H)not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live [d]by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13 When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he (I)commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14 But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he (J)turns from his sin and practices (K)justice and righteousness, 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, (L)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the (M)statutes [e]which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 (N)None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet [f]your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and (O)commits iniquity, then he shall die in [g]it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20 Yet you say, ‘(P)The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 33:10 Lit live
  2. Ezekiel 33:11 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  3. Ezekiel 33:12 Lit the sons of your people
  4. Ezekiel 33:12 Lit by it
  5. Ezekiel 33:15 Lit of life
  6. Ezekiel 33:17 Lit the sons of your people
  7. Ezekiel 33:18 Lit them