Ezekiel 3:18

18 ¹If I say to the wicked, ²'You shall surely die,'³and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ⁴shall die for^[a] his iniquity, ⁵but his blood I will require at your 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 at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me:

17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.

18 If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,'and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 33:8
• 2. Genesis 2:17
• 3. [See ver. 17 above]
• 4. Ezekiel 18:18; Jeremiah 31:30; [John 8:21, 24]
• 5. ver. 20; Ezekiel 33:6, 8; Ezekiel 34:10; [Ezekiel 18:13; Acts 18:6; Acts 20:26]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or in; also verses 19, 20