15. (The pledge the wicked restoreth, plunder he repayeth,) In the statutes of life he hath walked, So as not to do perversity, He surely liveth--he doth not die.
16. None of his sin that he hath sinned is remembered to him, Judgment and righteousness he hath done, He doth surely live.
17. And the sons of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, As to them--their way is not pondered.
18. In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity--he dieth for it.
19. And in the turning back of the wicked from his wickedness, And he hath done judgment and righteousness, by them he liveth.
20. And ye have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, Each according to his ways do I judge you, O house of Israel.'
21. And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year--in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month--of our removal, come in unto me doth one who is escaped from Jerusalem, saying, `The city hath been smitten.'
22. And the hand of Jehovah hath been unto me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He openeth my mouth till the coming in unto me in the morning, and opened is my mouth, and I have not been silent again.
23. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
24. `Son of man, the inhabitants of these wastes on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying: Alone hath been Abraham--and he possesseth the land, and we [are] many--to us hath the land been given for a possession.
25. Therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: With the blood ye do eat, And your eyes ye lift up unto your idols, And blood ye shed, and the land ye inherit!
26. Ye have stood on your sword, Ye have done abomination, Each the wife of his neighbour ye have defiled, And the land ye possess!
27. Thus dost thou say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live--do not they who [are] in the wastes by the sword fall? And they who [are] on the face of the field, To the beast I have given for food, And they who are in strongholds and incaves by pestilence die.
28. And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, And ceased hath the excellency of its strength, And desolated have been mountains of Israel, Without any one passing through.
29. And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, For all their abominations that they have done.
30. And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people who are speaking about thee, By the walls, and in openings of the houses, Have spoken one with another, each with his brother, Saying: Come in, I pray you, And hear what [is] the word that cometh out from Jehovah.
31. And they come in unto thee as the coming in of a people, And they sit before thee-- My people, And have heard thy words, and they do them not, For doting loves with their mouth they are making, After their dishonest gain their heart is going.