7So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, when thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, warn them from Me. 8When I say unto the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. 9Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
10Therefore, O thou son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying: Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? 11Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
12And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. 13When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, for it shall he die. 14Again, when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 15if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17Yet the children of thy people say: The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for them, their way is not equal. 18When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20Yet ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.'
21And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying: 'The city is smitten.' 22Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and He had opened my mouth against his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. 23Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 24'Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25Wherefore say unto them: Thus saith the Lord God. Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land? 26Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife; and shall ye possess the land? 27Thus shalt thou
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