- Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their borders and set him for their watchman, if, when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and takes not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.
- But if the watchman sees the sword come and blows not the trumpet, and the people are not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
- So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, you shall hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die — if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it, if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
- Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus you speak — saying, If our transgressions and our sins are upon us and we waste away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
- Therefore, you son of man, say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness. Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins. When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, if he trust to his own righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered, but for his iniquity that he has committed — he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die — if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right, if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity — he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. He has done that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live.
- Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal. But as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you, everyone after his ways.
Chapter 16