Ezekiel 3:21 (DBY)

Passage

And if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall certainly live, for he hath taken warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:19 But if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 3:20 And when a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and do what is wrong, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous acts which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Ezekiel 3:21 And if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall certainly live, for he hath taken warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 3:22 And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the valley, and there I will talk with thee.

Ezekiel 3:23 And I arose, and went forth into the valley, and behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "warn", "righteous", "doth", "shall", "certainly", and "live". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "warn", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And when a righteous man doth turn..." into verse 22's "And the hand of Jehovah was there...", so "thou" and "warn" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "warn" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.