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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ezekiel 33 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezekiel/33.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ezekiel/33-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Ezekiel 33</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezekiel/32.htm" title="Ezekiel 32">◄</a> Ezekiel 33 <a href="../ezekiel/34.htm" title="Ezekiel 34">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Appoints Ezekiel To Stand Watch</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="EZK 3:16-21">Ezekiel 3.16-21</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_1"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.1" class="v26_33_1">1</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_2"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.2" class="v26_33_2">2</span>Ezekiel, son of man, warn your people by saying:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_33_2">Someday, I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, may send an enemy to invade a country. And suppose its people choose someone to stand watch </span><span class="v26_33_3"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.3" class="v26_33_3">3</span>and to sound a warning signal when the enemy is seen coming. </span><span class="v26_33_4"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.4-Ezek.33.5" class="v26_33_4">4-5</span>If any of these people hear the signal and ignore it, they will be killed in battle. But it will be their own fault, because they could have escaped if they had paid attention.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_33_6"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.6" class="v26_33_6">6</span>But suppose the person watching fails to sound the warning signal. The enemy will attack and kill some of the sinful people in that country, and I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, will hold that person responsible for their death.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_7"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.7" class="v26_33_7">7</span>Ezekiel, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me. </span><span class="v26_33_8"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.8" class="v26_33_8">8</span>When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death. </span><span class="v26_33_9"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.9" class="v26_33_9">9</span>If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Is Always Fair</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="EZK 18:21-30">Ezekiel 18.21-30</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_10"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.10" class="v26_33_10">10</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_10">Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me. </span><span class="v26_33_11"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.11" class="v26_33_11">11</span>Tell them that as surely as I am the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_12"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.12" class="v26_33_12">12</span>Tell them that when good people start sinning, all the good they did in the past cannot save them from being punished. And remind them that when wicked people stop sinning, their past sins will be completely forgiven, and they won't be punished.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_13"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.13" class="v26_33_13">13</span>Suppose I promise good people that they will live, then later they start sinning and believe they will be saved by the good they did in the past. These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins. Their good deeds will be forgotten.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_14"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.14" class="v26_33_14">14</span>Suppose I warn wicked people that they will die because of their sins, and they stop sinning and start doing right. </span><span class="v26_33_15"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.15" class="v26_33_15">15</span>For example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my Law, they will live. </span><span class="v26_33_16"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.16" class="v26_33_16">16</span>Their past sins will be forgiven, and they will live because they have done right.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_17"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.17" class="v26_33_17">17</span>Ezekiel, your people accuse me of being unfair. But they are the ones who are unfair. </span><span class="v26_33_18"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.18" class="v26_33_18">18</span>If good people start doing evil, they will be put to death, because they have sinned. </span><span class="v26_33_19"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.19" class="v26_33_19">19</span>And if wicked people stop sinning and start doing right, they will save themselves from punishment. </span><span class="v26_33_20"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.20" class="v26_33_20">20</span>But the Israelites still think I am unfair. So warn them that they will be punished for what they have done.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The News of Jerusalem's Fall</h3><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_21"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.21" class="v26_33_21">21</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.33.21!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, a refugee who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me on the fifth day of the tenth month.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.33.21!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> He told me that the city had fallen.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_22"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.22" class="v26_33_22">22</span>The evening before this man arrived at my house, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had taken control of me. So when the man came to me the next morning, I could once again speak.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.33.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><h3 class="s1">What Will Happen to Those Left in Israel?</h3><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_23"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.23" class="v26_33_23">23</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_24"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.24" class="v26_33_24">24</span>Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in the ruined cities of Israel are saying, “Abraham was just one man, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> gave him this whole land of Israel. There are many of us, and so this land must be ours.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_25"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.25" class="v26_33_25">25</span>So, Ezekiel, tell them I am saying:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_33_25">How can you think the land is still yours? You eat meat with blood in it and worship idols. You commit murder </span><span class="v26_33_26"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.26" class="v26_33_26">26</span>and spread violence throughout the land. Everything you do is wicked; you are even unfaithful in marriage. And you claim the land is yours!</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_33_27"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.27" class="v26_33_27">27</span>As surely as I am the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, you people in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Those of you living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals, and those hiding in caves and on rocky cliffs will die from deadly diseases. </span><span class="v26_33_28"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.28" class="v26_33_28">28</span>I will make the whole country an empty wasteland and crush the power in which you take such pride. Even the mountains will be bare, and no one will try to cross them. </span><span class="v26_33_29"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.29" class="v26_33_29">29</span>I will punish you because of your sins, and I will turn your nation into a barren desert. Then you will know that I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The People Listen, but Don't Change</h3><h5 class="sp">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_30"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.30" class="v26_33_30">30</span>Ezekiel, son of man, the people with you in Babylonia talk about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say, “Let's ask Ezekiel what the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has said today.” </span><span class="v26_33_31"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.31" class="v26_33_31">31</span>So they all come and listen to you, but they refuse to do what you tell them. They claim to be faithful, but they are forever trying to cheat others out of their money. </span><span class="v26_33_32"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.32" class="v26_33_32">32</span>They treat you as though you were merely singing love songs or playing music. They listen, but don't do anything you say.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_33_33"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.33.33" class="v26_33_33">33</span>Soon they will be punished, just as you warned, and they will know that a prophet has been among them.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">33.21 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Twelve years … tenth month: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probably December of 586 <char style="sc">b.c.</char></char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">33.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">I could once again speak: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 3.27.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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