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 ¹ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

 ² "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land take a man of their land and set him for their watchman,

 ³ If when he sees the sword coming upon the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people,

 ⁴ Then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take take warning, and if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

 ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will deliver his soul.

 ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and if the sword comes and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the watchman's hand [hold him accountable].

 ⁷ So you, O son of man, I have made a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word from my mouth and warn them from me.

 ⁸ When I say to 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 I will require at your hand.

 ⁹ Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

 ¹⁰ Therefore, O son of man, speak to the house of Israel: This is what you are saying, "Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how can we then live?"'

 ¹¹ Say to them, 'As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, O house of Israel?' [So that no man would die while still sinning and lose his soul, God's grace has appeared to all men, Tit 2:11; the light (Christ) is given to all men so that they might believe, John 1:7,9; (a talent) measure of God's Spirit is given to all men to profit withal 1 Cor 12:7; and God's Spirit was poured out on all men at Pentecost, Acts 2:1-21.]

 ¹² Therefore, son of man, say to your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression [disobedience]; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live because of his past righteousness in the day that he sins.'

 ¹³ When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live, and he trusts to his own righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but he shall die for his iniquity that he has committed.

 ¹⁴ Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right-

 ¹⁵ If the wicked restores the pledge, give back what he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

 ¹⁶ None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

 ¹⁷ Yet your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not just;' but it is their own way that is not just.

 ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.

 ¹⁹ But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live by doing so.

 ²⁰ Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge you everyone according to his ways."

 ²¹ And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that a man who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, 'The city has been taken.'

 ²² Now the evening before this man who had escaped came, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he had opened my mouth [from being mute] before he came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

 ²³ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

 ²⁴ "Son of man, those who inhabit the ruins of the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man and he inherited the land, but we are many; the land is given to us for our inheritance.'

 ²⁵ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat meat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

 ²⁶ You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile your neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?'

 ²⁷ Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: 'As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and those who are in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the forts and in the caves shall die by the pestilence.

 ²⁸ For I will make the land desolate, and the pomp and pride of her strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through them.'

 ²⁹ Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

 ³⁰ Also, son of man, your people still are talking about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and say to one another, everyone to his brother, 'Come and hear what the word is that comes forth from the LORD.'

 ³¹ And they come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they will not do [obey] them; for they show much love with their mouth, but their heart goes after their covetousness. [Covetousness is wanting something more: a new car, a new house, a vacation in Hawaii, clothes, a body, fine dining, a drink, a drug, a cooler cell phone, etc. Covetousness is forbidden both in the Old Testament and the New, and by the inner law of God on every man's heart, and by Christ and his apostles. Paul has defined covetousness as idolatry. The world has totally forgotten about covetousness, and Christianity's gospel of prosperity preachers even teach that covetousness is rewarded by God. And so, while today's so-called Christians confess their creed, sing their hymns, say their prayers, and study their Bibles; all is only with their mouths for their hearts are just as foul as their so-called pagan neighbors, both wanting the same things. From the Word of the Lord within: "Christianity has no idea what I am or for what I stand. Remember, every person who sins denies Him as Lord and Master. Everyone is expecting Jesus to be their excuse. I've warned them and given them the requirements and preached the exclusions; they should not expect anything else or conclusion."]

 ³²  Indeed, to them you are like a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words but they do not do [obey] them.¹

 ³³ And when this comes to pass, (for behold, it will come), then will they know that a prophet has been among them."