Ezekiel 33:11-21

11 "Say to them, '1As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take 2no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather * that the wicked 3turn from his way and live. 4Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'
12 "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The 5righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will 6not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live 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 7commits 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 8turns from his sin and practices 9justice and righteousness,
15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, 10pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the 11statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 "12None * of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.
17 "Yet 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 13commits iniquity, then he shall die in it.
19 "But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.
20 "Yet you say, '14The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways."

Word of Jerusalem's Capture

21 Now 15in the 16twelfth * year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "17The city has been taken."

Ezekiel 33:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 33

This chapter treats of the prophet's duty, and the people's sins; contains a vindication of the justice of God; a threatening of destruction to those who remained in the land after the taking of the city; and a detection of the hypocrisy of the prophet's hearers. The duty of a watchman in general is declared, Eze 33:1-6, an application of this to the prophet, Eze 33:7: the sum of whose business is to warn the wicked man of his wickedness; and the consequence of doing, or not doing it, is expressed, Eze 33:8,9, an objection of the people, and the prophet's answer to it, Eze 33:10,11, who is bid to acquaint them, that a righteous man trusting to his righteousness, and sinning, should not live; and that a sinner repenting of his sins should not die, Eze 33:12-16, the people's charge of inequality in the ways of God is retorted upon them, and removed from the Lord, and proved against them, Eze 33:17-20, then follows a prophecy, delivered out after the news was brought of the taking of the city, threatening with ruin those that remained in the land, confident of safety, and that for their sins, which are particularly enumerated, Eze 33:21-29, and the chapter is closed with a discovery of the hypocrisy of those that attended the prophet's ministry, Eze 33:30-33.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Isaiah 49:18; Ezekiel 5:11
  • 2. Ezekiel 18:23, 32; Hosea 11:8
  • 3. Jeremiah 31:20; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9
  • 4. Isaiah 55:6, 7; Jeremiah 3:22; Ezekiel 18:30, 31; Hosea 14:1; Acts 3:19
  • 5. Ezekiel 3:18; Ezekiel 18:24; Ezekiel 33:20
  • 6. 2 Chronicles 7:14; Ezekiel 18:21; Ezekiel 33:19
  • 7. Ezekiel 18:26; Hebrews 10:38; 2 Peter 2:20, 21
  • 8. Isaiah 55:7; Jeremiah 18:7, 8; Ezekiel 18:27; Ezekiel 33:8, 19; Hosea 14:1, 4
  • 9. Micah 6:8
  • 10. Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4, 5; Luke 19:8
  • 11. Psalms 119:59; Psalms 143:8; Ezekiel 20:11
  • 12. Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 43:25; Ezekiel 18:22
  • 13. Ezekiel 3:20; Ezekiel 18:24; Ezekiel 33:12, 13
  • 14. Ezekiel 18:25
  • 15. Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1, 17
  • 16. Jeremiah 39:1, 2; Jeremiah 40:1; Jeremiah 52:4-7; Ezekiel 24:1, 2
  • 17. 2 Kings 25:10; Jeremiah 39:8

Footnotes 8

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