1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^t“Son of man, speak to ^uyour people and say to them, If ^vI bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^wwatchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^xblows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, ^yhis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 ^zHe heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 ^aBut if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, ^athat person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

7 ^b“So you, ^tson of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. ^bWhenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 ^cIf I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, ^cand you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, ^cthat wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 ^dBut if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, ^dthat person shall die in his iniquity, ^ebut you will have delivered your soul.

10 “And you, ^fson of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^gwe rot away because of them. ^hHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, ⁱAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^jI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^kturn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^kfor why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 ^t“And you, son of man, say to ^lyour people, ^mThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ⁿand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^mand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness¹ when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^mif he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, ^othough I say to the wicked, ^p‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^qif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked ^rrestores the pledge, ^sgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^tin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 ^uNone of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet ^lyour people say, ^v‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 ^wWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And ^xwhen the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^yI will judge each of you according to his ways.”