Ezekiel 3:18

18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live: the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Ezekiel 3:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:18

When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die
Not only a corporeal but an eternal death for this is what the law threatens with, and there the Lord says this; and this is the wages, end, and issue of sin, if grace prevent not: and thou givest him not warning;
of the evil nature of sin, and of the danger it exposes to: nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way;
to abstain from it, and live another course of life: to save his life;
for such warning, caution, exhortation, and doctrine, may be a means of converting a sinner from the evil of his way, and of saving a soul from death, ( 1 Timothy 4:16 ) ( James 5:20 ) ; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity;
with the pollution and guilt of sin upon him, and so be punished for it; see ( John 8:24 ) ; but his blood will I require at thine hands;
thou shalt be answerable for him; his death shall be laid to thy charge, and thou shalt be chastised for thy negligence; see ( Acts 20:26 ) .

Ezekiel 3:18 In-Context

16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.

18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live: the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

19 But if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 And when a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and do what is wrong, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous acts which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.