The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The word of ADONAI came to me:
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And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 "Human being, speak to your people; say to them, 'Suppose I bring the sword on a country, and the people of that country take one of their men and appoint him their watchman.
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Son of man, give a word to the children of your people, and say to them, When I make the sword come on a land, if the people of the land take a man from among their number and make him their watchman:
3 Now if, upon seeing the sword coming against that country, he blows the shofar and warns the people;
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If, when he sees the sword coming on the land, by sounding the horn he gives the people news of their danger;
4 then, if the sword comes and takes away someone who heard the sound of the shofar but paid no attention to it, the responsibility for that person's death will be his own -
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Then anyone who, hearing the sound of the horn, does not take note of it, will himself be responsible for his death, if the sword comes and takes him away.
5 he heard the shofar but paid no attention, so the responsibility for his death is his own; whereas if he had paid attention, he would have saved his life.
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On hearing the sound of the horn, he did not take note; his blood will be on him; for if he had taken note his life would have been safe.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the shofar, so that the people are not warned; and then the sword comes and takes any one of them, that one is indeed taken away in his guilt, but I will hold the watchman responsible for his death.'
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But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood.
7 "Likewise you, human being - I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Isra'el. Therefore, when you hear the word from my mouth, warn them for me.
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So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel; and you are to give ear to the word of my mouth and give them news from me of their danger.
8 When I tell the wicked person, 'Wicked person, you will certainly die'; and you fail to speak and warn the wicked person to leave his way; then that wicked person will die guilty; and I will hold you responsible for his death.
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When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.
9 On the other hand, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he doesn't turn from his way; then he will still die guilty, but you will have saved your own life.
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But if you make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way for the purpose of turning him from it, and he is not turned from his way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, but your life will be safe.
10 "Therefore, you, human being, say to the house of Isra'el: 'You say, "Our crimes and sins are weighing us down, we're pining away because of them, how can we even stay alive?"'
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And you, son of man, say to the children of Israel, You say, Our wrongdoing and our sins are on us and we are wasting away in them; how then may we have life?
11 Say to them, 'As I live,' swears Adonai ELOHIM, 'I take no pleasure in having the wicked person die, but in having the wicked person turn from his way and live. So repent! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, house of Isra'el?'
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Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the evil-doer; it is more pleasing to me if he is turned from his way and has life: be turned, be turned from your evil ways; why are you looking for death, O children of Israel?
12 "Next, you, human being, say to your people: 'The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him, once he starts committing crimes; and likewise, the wickedness of the wicked person will not cause him to fall, once he turns from his wickedness. No, the righteous person cannot live by virtue of [his former righteousness], once he starts sinning.
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And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the upright man will not make him safe in the day when he does wrong; and the evil-doing of the evil man will not be the cause of his fall in the day when he is turned from his evil-doing; and the upright man will not have life because of his righteousness in the day when he does evil.
13 So if, after I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, he begins trusting in his own [former] righteousness and starts committing crimes; then none of his [former] righteous actions will be remembered; on the contrary, he will die for the evil deeds he has committed.
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When I say to the upright that life will certainly be his; if he puts his faith in his righteousness and does evil, not one of his upright acts will be kept in memory; but in the evil he has done, death will overtake him.
14 Likewise, if, after I tell the wicked person, "You must die," he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right -
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And when I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; if he is turned from his sin and does what is ordered and right;
15 if the wicked person restores pledged property and returns what he stole, so that he lives by the laws that give life and does not commit evil deeds; then he will live, he will not die.
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If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him.
16 None of the sins he committed will be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he will surely live.'
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Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in mind against him: he has done what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his.
17 "Now your people say, 'Adonai's way isn't fair!' But it is their way, theirs, that isn't fair!
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But the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: when it is they whose way is not equal.
18 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die because of it.
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When the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, death will overtake him in it.
19 And when the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he will live because of it.
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And when the evil man, turning away from his evil-doing, does what is ordered and right, he will get life by it.
20 Yet you say, 'Adonai's way isn't fair!' House of Isra'el, I will judge each of you according to his ways."
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And still you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, I will be your judge, giving to everyone the reward of his ways.
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Yerushalayim came to me with the news, "The city has been struck."
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Now in the twelfth year after we had been taken away prisoners, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had got away in flight from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The town has been taken.
22 Now the hand of ADONAI had been on me that evening, before the fugitive arrived - he had opened my mouth prior to his coming to me in the morning, so my mouth was open, and I was no longer mute.
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Now the hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before the man who had got away came to me; and he made my mouth open, ready for his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no longer without voice.
23 Then the word of ADONAI came to me:
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And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24 "Human being, those living in the desolate parts of the land of Isra'el are saying, 'Avraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many, so [how much more] is the land given to us to inherit!'
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Son of man, those who are living in these waste places in the land of Israel say, Abraham was but one, and he had land for his heritage: but we are a great number; the land is given to us for our heritage.
25 Therefore, tell them that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'You eat [flesh] with the blood, you raise your eyes to your idols, and you shed blood - and you still expect to possess the land?
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For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?
26 You depend on your swords, you commit disgusting practices, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife - and you still expect to possess the land?'
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You put your faith in your swords, you do disgusting things, everyone takes his neighbour's wife: are you to have the land for your heritage?
27 Tell them that Adonai ELOHIM swears, 'As I live, those living in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the countryside I will give to the wild animals to eat, and those in the fortresses and caves will die of the plague.
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This is what you are to say to them: The Lord has said, By my life, truly, those who are in the waste places will be put to the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts for their food, and those who are in the strong places and in holes in the rocks will come to their death by disease.
28 Moreover, I will utterly desolate the land; it will cease taking pride in its power; and the mountains of Isra'el will be so desolate that no one will pass through.'
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And I will make the land a waste and a cause of wonder, and the pride of her strength will come to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be made waste so that no one will go through.
29 Then they will know that I am ADONAI, when I have made the land utterly desolate, because of all the disgusting practices they have committed.
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Then they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a waste and a cause of wonder, because of all the disgusting things which they have done,
30 "Now you, human being, your people are gathering and talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of houses. They're saying to each other, each one telling his brother, 'Come, let's go and hear the latest word coming from ADONAI.'
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And as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking together about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, saying to one another, Come now, give ear to the word which comes from the Lord.
31 So then they come to you, as people do, sit in front of you as my people, and hear your words; but they don't act on them. For with their mouths they flatter you, but their hearts are set on their own self-interest;
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And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.
32 so for them you are like a love-song sung by someone with a nice voice who can play an instrument well - they hear your words, but they don't act on them.
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And truly you are to them like a love song by one who has a very pleasing voice and is an expert player on an instrument: for they give ear to your words but do them not.
33 So when all this comes true, then, at last, they will realize that a prophet has been there with them."
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And when this comes about (see, it is coming), then it will be clear to them that a prophet has been among them.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.