Ezekiel 3:21 (DRB)

Passage

But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 3:19 But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 3:20 Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.

Ezekiel 3:21 But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 3:22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to thee.

Ezekiel 3:23 And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "warn", "just", "doth", "living", "shall", 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 "Moreover if the just man shall turn..." into verse 22's "And the hand of the Lord was...", 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.