Ezekiel 33:10

Therefore, O thou son of man, in agreement with the principles thus set forth, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, in trying to find some excuse for the position in which they found themselves, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them, on account of the load which they represented, how should we then live? The penalty of their guilt stared them in the face on every hand, and so they saw only despair or a deliberate continuance in sin before their eyes.