But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ¹  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ² 

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages.

Into his right hand ¹  comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal ²  for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, ³  to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

Which of the trees of Eden was like you in majesty and loftiness? You will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword! This is what will happen to Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹  rebelled against the king of Babylon ²  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer ¹  for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live.

“‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. ¹ 

The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’

He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ¹  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”

He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. ¹  Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls. ² 

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ¹  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.

None of the sins he has committed will be held ¹  against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live.

does not engage in usury or charge interest, ¹  but refrains ²  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ³  between men,

oppresses the poor and the needy, ¹  commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to ²  idols, performs abominable acts,

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him ¹  for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!

Then a wind lifted me up ¹  and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, ² 

They are joined by ¹  Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples are with you. ² 

Because he considered ¹  and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.

On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals ¹  will walk ²  on its branches.