Passage
`And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, and he hath done perversity, and I have put a stumbling-block before him, he dieth; because thou hast not warned him, in his sin he dieth, and not remembered is his righteousness that he hath done, and his blood from thy hand I require.
Nearby Context
Ezekiel 3:18 In My saying to the wicked: Thou dost surely die; and thou hast not warned him, nor hast spoken to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so that he doth live; he--the wicked--in his iniquity dieth, and his blood from thy hand I require.
Ezekiel 3:19 And thou, because thou hast warned the wicked, and he hath not turned back from his wickedness, and from his wicked way, he in his iniquity dieth, and thou thy soul hast delivered.
Ezekiel 3:20 `And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, and he hath done perversity, and I have put a stumbling-block before him, he dieth; because thou hast not warned him, in his sin he dieth, and not remembered is his righteousness that he hath done, and his blood from thy hand I require.
Ezekiel 3:21 And thou, because thou hast warned him--the righteous--that the righteous sin not, and he hath not sinned, he surely liveth, because he hath been warned; and thou thy soul hast delivered.'
Ezekiel 3:22 And there is on me there a hand of Jehovah, and He saith to me, `Rise, go forth to the valley, and there I do speak with thee.'
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "turning", "back", "righteous", "righteousness", "hath", "done", "perversity", and "stumbling-block". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turning" and "back", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And thou because thou hast warned the..." into verse 21's "And thou because thou hast warned him--the...", so "turning" and "back" 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 "turning" and "back" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.