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| 1 And the word of Yahweh came, unto me, saying: |
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| 2 Son of man, Speak unto the sons of thy people, and thou shalt say unto them, A land,–when I bring upon it a sword, And the people of the land shall take, one man out of their whole number, and appoint him for them, as watchman; |
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| 3 And he shall see the sword coming upon the land,–and shall blow with the horn, and warn the people, |
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| 4 Then, as for him who, really heard, the sound of the horn, and took not warning, The sword indeed, hath come, and taken him away,–His blood, upon his own head, shall remain:– |
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| 5 The sound of the horn, he heard, but took not warning, His blood, upon himself, shall remain,–Whereas, had, he, taken warning, his own soul, he should have delivered. |
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| 6 But, as for the watchman–When he seeth the sword coming, And hath not blown with the horn, And, the people, have not been warned, And the sword, hath come, and taken away from among them any person, He, for his iniquity, hath been taken away, But, his blood, at the hand of the watchman, will I require. |
The watchman – When the foundations of all our faith are assailed, we lay aside mildness and cry aloud so as at once to arouse all Israel to the danger of the hour. R425:6, R431:6
Be not warned – It is our duty to warn against selfishness, our most imminent danger--our greatest enemy. R548:3
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| 7 Thou, therefore, Son of man, A watchman, have I appointed thee, to the house of Israel, So then thou shalt hear, at my mouth, a message, and shalt warn them, from me. |
O son of man – Applying to any steward of the Lord. R1558:6
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| 8 When I say to the lawless man, O lawless man, thou shalt, surely die, And thou have not spoken to warn the lawless man from his way, He, the lawless man, for his iniquity shall die, But, his blood–at thy hand, will I demand. |
If thou dost not speak – There can be no compromise of truth, no mixing of it with human philosophies to make it more palatable or to avoid any measure of otherwise inevitable persecution. R1558:6
His blood will I require – "I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." (Acts 20:26, 27) R1558:6
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| 9 But, as for, thyself, When thou hast warned a lawless man from his way, to turn therefrom, And he hath not turned from his way, He, for his own iniquity, shall die, But, thou, hast delivered, thine own life. |
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| 10 Thou, therefore, Son of man, Say unto the house of Israel, Thus, have ye spoken, saying: When, our transgressions and our sins, are upon us,–and, for them, we, are melting away, How, then, can we live? |
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| 11 Say unto them, As I live, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, Surely, I can take no pleasure in the death of the lawless man, But that the lawless man turn, from his way, and live,–Turn ye, turn ye, from your wicked ways, For wherefore, should ye die, O house of Israel? |
Say unto them – The world of mankind in the incoming age. R2613:3
I have no pleasure – "The Lord is not willing that any should perish." (2 Pet. 3:9) R1449:6*
Not that he does not "will" the death of the sinner, for it is his will that the "soul that sinneth, it shall die." R1449:6*
Death of the wicked – Second Death. R904:3
In mercy God will blot such out of existence. R605:5, R3083:5
Only when they absolutely refuse to be rightly exercised by the discipline of the Lord will he administer the final punishment which forever blots them out of existence. R904:3
This will be the last unpleasant duty of the Creator. R1834:1
The destruction of the incorrigible will be in demonstration of God's unceasing hatred of sin. R1782:1, R1273:5
Turn ye – If men in this life repent of sin and continue the work of reformation to the best of their ability, they will reap the benefit of so doing in the age to come. R722:5, R2613:3
Why will ye die – "See, I have set before thee this day life and death." (Deut. 30:19) R401:1*
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| 12 Thou, therefore, Son of man, Say unto the sons of thy people–The righteousness of the righteous man, shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, And, as for the lawlessness of the lawless man, He shall not stumble thereby, in the day of his return from his lawlessness,–Nor shall, the righteous man, be able to live thereby, in the day of his sin. |
His transgression – If he sin wilfully, his past good deeds shall not be remembered. R5781:2
That he turneth – The evildoer, coming to God with full repentance, is forgiven and received into God's family. R5781:2
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| 13 When I say of the righteous man, He shall, surely live, but, he, hath trusted in his righteousness and committed perversity, None of his righteous deeds, shall be mentioned, But, by his perversity which he hath committed–thereby, shall he die. |
Not be remembered – The crown of life is promised to those who shall prove themselves faithful, even until death. R1699:6
He shall die for it – There is a possibility of failure in the Millennial age. R401:2*
If one should make a covenant with God and then fail to keep that covenant he would lose his covenant relationship with God as soon as he abrogated the contract. Q288:5
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| 14 And, when I say to the lawless man, Thou shalt, surely die, but he shall turn from his sin, and do justice and righteousness: |
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| 15 The debt-pledge, the lawless man shall restore, Plunder, shall pay back, In the statutes of life, hath walked, so as not to commit perversity, He shall, surely live, he shall not die:– |
If the wicked restore – Godly sorrow for the wrong, turning from the wrong, and then, as far as possible, making the wrong right--that is repentance. R747:6*
Shall surely live – This principle applies at the present time to those who pass from death unto life as New Creatures; but it especially applies to the Millennial age. R4971:2; Q288:5
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| 16 None of his sins which he hath committed, shall be called to mind against him,–Justice and righteousness, hath he done, He shall, surely live. |
Shall be mentioned – His past evil is entirely ignored, except as it may bear its fruit in certain weaknesses of mind and body. R5781:2
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| 17 And can the sons of thy people, say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Nay! but, as for them, their way, will not be equal! |
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| 18 When the righteous man shall turn, from his righteousness, and commit perversity, Then shall he die for them; |
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| 19 But, when the lawless man shall turn, from his lawlessness, and do justice and righteousness, Upon them, shall he, live. |
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| 20 And can ye then say, The way of The Lord will not be equal? Every man–according to his own ways, [so] will I judge you, O house of Israel? |
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| 21 And it came to pass, in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, of our exile, that there came unto me one that had escaped out of Jerusalem, saying, Smitten, is the city! |
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| 22 Now, the hand of Yahweh, had come unto me, in the evening, before the coming of him who had escaped, and he had opened my mouth, by the time that he came to me in the morning,–so my mouth, was opened, and I was dumb no longer. |
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| 23 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying: |
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| 24 Son of man, These inhabitants of waste places, on the soil of Israel, are saying thus, One, was Abraham, Yet he inherited the land,–But, we, are many, To us, is the land, given as an inheritance. |
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| 25 Wherefore, say unto them, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, With the blood, ye do eat, And, your eyes, ye do lift up unto your manufactured gods, And, blood, ye do shed; And, the land, shall ye inherit? |
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| 26 Ye men have taken your stand by your sword, Ye women have wrought abomination, And, every man–with the wife of his neighbour, have ye defiled yourselves; And, the land, shall ye inherit? |
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| 27 Thus, shalt thou say unto them, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, As I live, surely, they who are in the waste places, by the sword, shall fall, And, him who is on the face of the field, to the wild beast, have I given to be devoured,–And, they who are in the mountain holds and in the pits, by pestilence, shall die; |
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| 28 And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, So shall be made to cease, the pride of her strength,–And the mountains of Israel shall be too desolate for any, to pass through. |
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| 29 So shall they know, that, I, am Yahweh,–When I make the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed. |
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| 30 Thou, therefore, Son of man, The sons of thy people who are talking against thee, Near the walls and in the entrances of the houses, are speaking one with another, every man with his brother, saying, Come in, we pray you, and heat, what is the word that is coming forth from Yahweh; |
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| 31 That they may come unto thee as people do, come, And may sit before thee, [as] my people, And they will hear thy words, But, the words themselves, will they not do,–though, fond with their mouths, they, seem to be, After their unjust gain, their heart, is going. |
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| 32 And lo! thou art to them–As a bewitching song, Of one with a beautiful voice, And skilfully touching the strings,–So will they hear thy words, And yet be going to do none, of them. |
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| 33 But, when it cometh, Lo! it is coming, Then shall they know, that, a prophet, hath been in their midst. |
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