Lockman - Bible questions and answers

		Ezek 33:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
		Ezek 33:2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people [who are exiled in Babylon] and say to them, 'If I bring a sword on a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,
		Ezek 33:3 and he sees the sword coming on the land, and he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
		Ezek 33:4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his [own] head.
		Ezek 33:5 'He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood shall be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.
		Ezek 33:6 'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, he is taken away because of his corruption and sin; but I will require his blood from the watchman's hand.'
		Ezek 33:7 ¶ "Now as for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you shall hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.
		Ezek 33:8 "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will certainly die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man will die because of his sin; but I will require his blood from your hand.
		Ezek 33:9 "But if you on your part warn the wicked man to turn from his [evil] way and he does not turn from his [evil] way, he will die in his sin; but you have saved your life.
		Ezek 33:10 ¶ "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have said, "Truly our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are rotting away because of them; how then can we live?"'
		Ezek 33:11 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back (change your way of thinking), turn back [in repentance] from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'
		Ezek 33:12 "And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stagger because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness, whereas a righteous man will not be able to live because of his [previous acts of] righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'
		Ezek 33:13 "When I say to the righteous that he will most certainly live, and he trusts in his [previous acts of] righteousness [to save him] and commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die for his injustice that he committed.
		Ezek 33:14 "But when I say to the wicked, 'You will certainly die,' and he turns from his sin and practices that which is just (fair) and right--
		Ezek 33:15 if a wicked man returns [what he took as] a pledge, pays back what he had taken by robbery, walks in the statutes which ensure life, without committing injustice, he will certainly live; he will not die.
		Ezek 33:16 "None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced that which is just (fair) and right; he will most certainly live.
		Ezek 33:17 ¶ "Yet your people [who are in exile in Babylon] say, 'The way of the Lord is not right;' but as for them, it is their own way that is not right.
		Ezek 33:18 "When the righteous turns back from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will also die because of it.
		Ezek 33:19 "But when a wicked man turns back from his wickedness and practices what is just (fair) and right, he will live because of it.
		Ezek 33:20 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge you, every one [of you] in accordance with his own ways!"
		Ezek 33:21 ¶ In the twelfth year of our exile [in Babylon], on the fifth of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city has been captured."
		Ezek 33:22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the survivor came. And He opened my mouth at the time he came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened [in readiness] and I was no longer mute.
		Ezek 33:23 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
		Ezek 33:24 "Son of man, those [back in Palestine] who inhabit these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was [only] one man and he took possession of the land, but we are many; the land has [most certainly] been given to us [to possess] as property.'
		Ezek 33:25 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it and raise your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you take possession of the land? [Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; 7:27; Acts 15:28, 29]
		Ezek 33:26 "You rely on your sword [as your security]; you commit outrageous and disgraceful acts and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then take possession of the land?"'
		Ezek 33:27 "You shall say this to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, those who are in the ruins certainly will fall by the sword, and I will give whoever is in the open field to the [predatory] animals to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves will die of virulent diseases.
		Ezek 33:28 "And I will make the land [of Israel] a desolation and a ruin, and her pride in her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be so deserted that no one will pass through.
		Ezek 33:29 "Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a ruin because of all the atrocities which they have committed."'
		Ezek 33:30 ¶ "But as for you, son of man, your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses say one to another, every one to his brother, 'Come now and hear what the message is that comes from the LORD.'
		Ezek 33:31 "They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not practice them; for with their mouth they express loving devotion, but their heart goes after their (unlawful) gain.
		Ezek 33:32 "Behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a pleasant voice and plays well on a stringed instrument [merely to entertain them]; for they hear your words but do not practice them.
		Ezek 33:33 "So when it comes to pass--as it most certainly will--then they will know [without any doubt] that a prophet has been among them."

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