Ezekiel 33:14

But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right—

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community, delivering a conditional warning to a wicked person immediately after describing how a righteous person who abandons their righteousness will die. The prophet functions as the messenger relaying this divine declaration.

The words — The Hebrew וְ/שָׁב (ve./Shav) means "and he will turn back," paired with מֵֽ/חַטָּאת֔/וֹ (me./cha.ta.T/o) for "from his sin." This phrasing denotes a literal reversal of direction away from transgression.

The thread — This conditional pattern appears in Ezekiel 18:27, where turning from wickedness saves a life, and Jeremiah 18:7, which establishes that announced destruction is reversed when a nation abandons its evil.

Why it lands — The text demands a concrete behavioral shift: abandoning sin and performing justice to nullify the stated death sentence. It requires the reader to accept that divine judgments are contingent on immediate action, not predetermined fate.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּבְאָמְרִ֥יu./ve./'a.me.R/iand/ when/ say/ I לָֽרָשָׁ֖עla./ra.Sha'to the/ wicked [person]מ֣וֹתMotsurely <die>תָּמ֑וּתta.Mutyou will die וְשָׁב֙ve./Shavand/ he will turn back מֵֽחַטָּאת֔וֹme./cha.ta.T/ofrom/ sin/ his וְעָשָׂ֥הve./'a.Sahand/ he will do מִשְׁפָּ֖טmish.Patjustice וּצְדָקָֽה׃u./tze.da.Kahand/ righteousness

King James Version

Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

Cross-references

Ezekiel 18:27 But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
Jeremiah 18:7 At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
Ezekiel 33:8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
Jeremiah 4:1 “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,
Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.