“ If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

再者，义人何时离义而犯罪，我将绊脚石放在他面前，他就必死；因你没有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素来所行的义不被记念；我却要向你讨他丧命的罪。

但是义人若转离他的义而作恶，我要把绊脚石放在他面前，他必死亡；因你没有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素来所行的义不被记念；我却要从你手里讨他的血债。

但是义人若转离他的义而作恶，我要把绊脚石放在他面前，他必死亡；因你没有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素来所行的义不被记念；我却要从你手里讨他的血债。

如果一个义人偏离正道、犯罪作恶，我会使他跌倒，他必死亡。如果你不告诫他，他必死在罪恶之中，他以前的义行也不会被记念，而我要追究你的责任。

如果义人偏离正义，行事邪恶，我必把绊脚石放在他面前，他必定死亡；因为你没有警告他，他必因自己的罪死亡。他素常所行的义，也必不被记念。但我要因他的死追究你。

再者，義人何時離義而犯罪，我將絆腳石放在他面前，他就必死；因你沒有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素來所行的義不被記念；我卻要向你討他喪命的罪。

但是義人若轉離他的義而作惡，我要把絆腳石放在他面前，他必死亡；因你沒有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素來所行的義不被記念；我卻要從你手裏討他的血債。

但是義人若轉離他的義而作惡，我要把絆腳石放在他面前，他必死亡；因你沒有警戒他，他必死在罪中，他素來所行的義不被記念；我卻要從你手裏討他的血債。

如果一個義人偏離正道、犯罪作惡，我會使他跌倒，他必死亡。如果你不告誡他，他必死在罪惡之中，他以前的義行也不會被記念，而我要追究你的責任。

如果義人偏離正義，行事邪惡，我必把絆腳石放在他面前，他必定死亡；因為你沒有警告他，他必因自己的罪死亡。他素常所行的義，也必不被記念。但我要因他的死追究你。

義人呢，義人若轉離他的義而行不公道的事，當我將絆腳物放在他面前時，他就必死；因你沒有警告他，他就死在他的罪中，他素來所行的義遂不被記念，但流他血的罪、我卻要從你手裏追討。

如義人背義行惡、我置窒礙於其前、彼必死亡、爾不警之、彼死於罪、所行之義、不復見憶、我必索其血於爾手、

如義人棄善作惡、我任其陷罪、至於死亡、彼所為之善不復繫念、死於罪戾、爾既不示之、我亦必罰爾。

如善人離善行惡、我聽其陷罪、以致死亡、爾不戒之、必死於罪中、彼所為之善、不得記憶、而其喪命之罪、必責問於爾、

“ Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

“ Or suppose a godly person turns away from their godliness and does what is evil. And suppose I put something in their way that will trip them up. Then they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The godly things that person did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for their death.

Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly, and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

Again, when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand.

“ Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

Again, When a righteous[ man] doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

“ When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

“ Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand.

However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.

If I warn the wicked, saying,‘ You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

“ Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins.

And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord. Take them away with those who do evil. May Israel have peace!

When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds.

I, the Lord, will answer all those, both Israelites and foreigners, who reject me and set up idols in their hearts and so fall into sin, and who then come to a prophet asking for my advice.I will turn against such people and make a terrible example of them, eliminating them from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.“‘ And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel.

He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.They prove the truth of this proverb:“ A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says,“ A washed pig returns to the mud.”

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:“ I will put obstacles in my people’s path. Fathers and sons will both fall over them. Neighbors and friends will die together.”

And,“ He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.

But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice.They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.Yet the Lord sent prophets to bring them back to him. The prophets warned them, but still the people would not listen.Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said,“ This is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!”Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple.That was how King Joash repaid Jehoiada for his loyalty— by killing his son. Zechariah’s last words as he died were,“ May the Lord see what they are doing and avenge my death!”

And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the Lord’s guidance or seek my blessings.”

“ Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests?

For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die.

But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’

Then Nathan said to David,“ You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.“ This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view.You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”Then David confessed to Nathan,“ I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied,“ Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.

Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.

This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask,“ Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”

Likewise, David said,“ Let their bountiful table become a snare, a trap that makes them think all is well. Let their blessings cause them to stumble, and let them get what they deserve.

do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul.

And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

“ O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city— the city that bears your name— lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.

“ They will throw their money in the streets, tossing it out like worthless trash. Their silver and gold won’t save them on that day of the Lord’s anger. It will neither satisfy nor feed them, for their greed can only trip them up.

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

“ When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.Then it says,‘ I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

“ Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.

Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good.

To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him.“ Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” he asked the king.“ Because of what you have done, the Lord is very angry with you.Even so, there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles throughout the land, and you have committed yourself to seeking God.”Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he went out among the people, traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, encouraging the people to return to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,“ I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother,“ This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him.

“ If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.

The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.