Ezekiel 3:18

3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,”¹ and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity,² but I will hold you accountable for his death.³

Ezekiel 3:20

3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle⁴ 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.

Ezekiel 7:19

7:19 They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth.⁵ Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury.⁶ They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth⁷ was the obstacle leading to their iniquity.⁸

Ezekiel 14:4

14:4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry.⁹

Ezekiel 14:7

14:7 For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally.

Ezekiel 33:6

33:6 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,¹⁰ but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’¹¹

Ezekiel 39:23

39:23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity,¹² for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies; all of them died by the sword.

¹sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

²tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

³tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

⁴tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.

⁵tn The Hebrew term can refer to menstrual impurity. The term also occurs at the end of v. 20.

⁶sn Compare Zeph 1:18.

⁷tn Heb “it.” Apparently the subject is the silver and gold mentioned earlier (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:102).

⁸tn The “stumbling block of their iniquity” is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30; 44:12).

⁹tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”

¹⁰tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

¹¹tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

¹²tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.