Ezekiel 33:14-24

14 And in My saying to the wicked: Thou surely diest, And -- he hath turned back from his sin, And hath done judgment and righteousness,

15 (The pledge the wicked restoreth, plunder he repayeth,) In the statutes of life he hath walked, So as not to do perversity, He surely liveth -- he doth not die.

16 None of his sin that he hath sinned is remembered to him, Judgment and righteousness he hath done, He doth surely live.

17 And the sons of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, As to them -- their way is not pondered.

18 In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity -- he dieth for it.

19 And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, And he hath done judgment and righteousness, by them he liveth.

20 And ye have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, Each according to his ways do I judge you, O house of Israel.'

21 And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year -- in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month -- of our removal, come in unto me doth one who is escaped from Jerusalem, saying, `The city hath been smitten.'

22 And the hand of Jehovah hath been unto me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He openeth my mouth till the coming in unto me in the morning, and opened is my mouth, and I have not been silent again.

23 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

24 `Son of man, the inhabitants of these wastes on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying: Alone hath been Abraham -- and he possesseth the land, and we [are] many -- to us hath the land been given for a possession.

Ezekiel 33:14-24 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.