And the word of יהוה came to me, saying:

Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'When I bring a sword upon the land, and the people of the land take one man from their midst and appoint him as a watchman for them,

and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows the shofar and warns the people,

and whoever hears the sound of the shofar, but does not heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him, his blood will be on his own head.

He heard the sound of the shofar, but did not heed the warning; his blood will be on him. But if he heeds the warning, he saves his life.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the shofar, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes someone from them, that person is taken because of his iniquity, but I will demand his blood from the watchman's hand.'

And you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Yisra'el. So you will hear a word from my mouth and warn them from me.

When I say to the wicked, 'Wicked one, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked one will die in his iniquity, but I will seek his blood from your hand.'

But if you warn the wicked from his way to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have saved your life.'

And you, son of man, say to the house of Yisra'el, 'Thus you say, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and in them we are wasting away. How then can we live?”'

Say to them, 'As I live, declares Adonai יהוה, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, O house of Yisra'el?'

And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous will not save him on the day of his transgression, nor will the wickedness of the wicked cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. And the righteous will not be able to live by it on the day he sins.'

When I say to the righteous, 'You will surely live,' and he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteous deeds will not be remembered, but he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.'

And when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and does justice and righteousness,

if the wicked man restores a pledge, repays what he has stolen, walks by the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he will surely live; he will not die.

None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him; he has done justice and righteousness; he will surely live.

Yet your people say, 'The way of Adonai is not right,' but it is their own ways that are not right.

When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die because of it.

And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does justice and righteousness, he will live because of it.

You say, 'The way of Adonai is not right.' I will judge you, O house of Yisra'el, each according to his ways.'

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that a fugitive from Yerushalayim came to me, saying, 'The city has been struck.'

And the hand of יהוה had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came, and he opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning, and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer silenced.

And the word of יהוה came to me, saying:

Son of man, those who live in these ruins in the land of Yisra'el say, 'Avraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many; the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'

Therefore, say to them, 'Thus says Adonai יהוה: You eat with the blood, and lift your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, and you will inherit the land.'

You stand on your swords, you commit abominations, and each defiles his neighbor's wife, and you will inherit the land.

Say to them, 'Thus says Adonai יהוה: As I live, surely those in the ruins will fall by the sword, and those in the open field I will give to the beasts for food, and those in strongholds and caves will die by pestilence.'

And I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, and the pride of her strength will cease, and the mountains of Yisra'el will be desolate from no one passing through.

Then they will know that I am יהוה, when I make the land a desolation and a wasteland because of all their abominations which they have committed.

And you, son of man, your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, and each one says to his brother, 'Come, please, and hear what word has come from יהוה.'

And they come to you as a people come, and they sit before you, my people, and they hear your words, but they do not act on them, for they are making idols with their mouths; they go after their greed.

And behold, you are to them like a beautiful song, with a pleasant voice and a good lyre, and they hear your words, but they do not act on them.

And when it comes, behold, it is coming, and they will know that a prophet was among them.