Ezekiel 3:18

18 If I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give them no warning, or speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life, those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity; but their 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 At the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me:

17 Mortal, I have made you a sentinel 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 them no warning, or speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life, those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity; but their blood I will require at your hand.

19 But if you warn the wicked, and they do not turn from their wickedness, or from their wicked way, they shall die for their iniquity; but you will have saved your life.

20 Again, if the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die; because you have not warned them, they shall die for their sin, and their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their blood I will require at your hand.