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Ezekiel 18
Lexham English Bible

God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked

18 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “What do you mean by[c] quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,[d] ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’[e] 3 As I live,[f] declares[g] the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you[h] to quote this proverb in Israel! 4 Look! All lives are mine.[i] The lives of father and son alike are mine.[j] The person[k] sinning will die. 5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6 and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of[l] menstruation, 7 and he oppresses no one[m] and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery[n] and he gives[o] his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8 and he does not charge interest[p] and he takes no usury, and he holds back[q] his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,[r] 9 and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,[s] performing faithfully[t] —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares[u] the Lord Yahweh.

10 “And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood[v] and does any of these things[w] 11 (though[x] he[y] did not do all of these things), for the son also[z] eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12 He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,[aa] and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. 13 He charges interest[ab] and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.

14 “And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. 15 On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. 16 And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;[ac] he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17 He brings back[ad] his hand from iniquity;[ae] he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes[af] in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18 Because his father oppressed severely;[ag] he stole from his brother;[ah] that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through[ai] his guilt.

19 “Yet[aj] you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! 20 The person,[ak] the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked[al] shall be on him. 21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sins[am] that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! 22 All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against[an] him. Through[ao] his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I delight by any means[ap] in the death of the wicked, declares[aq] the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that[ar] he lives? 24 And when the righteous turns[as] from his righteousness, so that[at] he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then[au] will he live because of all of his righteousness[av] that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.[aw] Through[ax] them he shall die.

25 “Yet[ay] you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then[az] he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! 27 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.[ba] 28 And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! 29 And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?[bb]

30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one[bc] according to his ways,” declares[bd] the Lord Yahweh. “Repent[be] and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31 Throw away from yourselves[bf] all of your transgressions that you committed,[bg] and make for yourselves[bh] a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares[bi] the Lord Yahweh. “And so repent[bj] and live!”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “What is to you”
  4. Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “to say”
  5. Ezekiel 18:2 Or “dull,” set on edge”
  6. Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “life I”
  7. Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “declaration of”
  8. Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “to you”
  9. Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “all of the lives are for me they”
  10. Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “Like the life of the father and like the life of the son is to me look”
  11. Ezekiel 18:4 Or “life,” or “soul”
  12. Ezekiel 18:6 Or “in”
  13. Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “a person not”
  14. Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “robbed things not he seized”
  15. Ezekiel 18:7 Or “shares”
  16. Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “with the interest not he gives”
  17. Ezekiel 18:8 Or “brings back”
  18. Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “man and man”
  19. Ezekiel 18:9 Or “watches”
  20. Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “to do with with faithfulness”
  21. Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “declaration of”
  22. Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “shedding of blood”
  23. Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “and he does like from one from these”
  24. Ezekiel 18:11 Hebrew “And”
  25. Ezekiel 18:11 That is, the father
  26. Ezekiel 18:11 Or “even”
  27. Ezekiel 18:12 Literally “robbed things he seized”
  28. Ezekiel 18:13 Literally “with the interest he gives”
  29. Ezekiel 18:16 Literally “robbed things not does he seize”
  30. Ezekiel 18:17 Or “holds back”
  31. Ezekiel 18:17 Cf. verse 8
  32. Ezekiel 18:17 Or “walks”
  33. Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he oppressed oppression”
  34. Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he seized robbed things of a brother”
  35. Ezekiel 18:18 Or “in”
  36. Ezekiel 18:19 Or “And”
  37. Ezekiel 18:20 Or “soul,” or “life”
  38. Ezekiel 18:20 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  39. Ezekiel 18:21 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  40. Ezekiel 18:22 Or “for”
  41. Ezekiel 18:22 Or “By means of”
  42. Ezekiel 18:23 Or “in any way”
  43. Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “declaration of”
  44. Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “and”
  45. Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “at turning of the righteous”
  46. Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “and”
  47. Ezekiel 18:24 Or “and”
  48. Ezekiel 18:24 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  49. Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “sin that he sinned”
  50. Ezekiel 18:24 Or “in/by”
  51. Ezekiel 18:25 Or “And”
  52. Ezekiel 18:26 Or “and”
  53. Ezekiel 18:27 Literally “his soul/life he will keep alive”
  54. Ezekiel 18:29 Literally “not ways your not are right”
  55. Ezekiel 18:30 Hebrew “man”
  56. Ezekiel 18:30 Literally “declaration of”
  57. Ezekiel 18:30 Or “Turn/Return”
  58. Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “from on you”
  59. Ezekiel 18:31 Hebrew “committed with them”
  60. Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “to you”
  61. Ezekiel 18:32 Literally “declaration of”
  62. Ezekiel 18:32 Or “turn/return”
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Ezekiel 18
New International Version

The One Who Sins Will Die

18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

“‘The parents eat sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?(A)

3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb(B) in Israel. 4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins(C) is the one who will die.(D)

5 “Suppose there is a righteous man
    who does what is just and right.
6 He does not eat at the mountain(E) shrines
    or look to the idols(F) of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
    or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.(G)
7 He does not oppress(H) anyone,
    but returns what he took in pledge(I) for a loan.
He does not commit robbery(J)
    but gives his food to the hungry(K)
    and provides clothing for the naked.(L)
8 He does not lend to them at interest
    or take a profit from them.(M)
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
    and judges fairly(N) between two parties.
9 He follows my decrees(O)
    and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;(P)
    he will surely live,(Q)
declares the Sovereign Lord.

10 “Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood(R) or does any of these other things[a] 11 (though the father has done none of them):

“He eats at the mountain shrines.(S)
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.
12 He oppresses the poor(T) and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.(U)
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.(V)
13 He lends at interest and takes a profit.(W)

Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.(X)

14 “But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:(Y)

15 “He does not eat at the mountain shrines(Z)
    or look to the idols(AA) of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
16 He does not oppress anyone
    or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
    but gives his food to the hungry(AB)
    and provides clothing for the naked.(AC)
17 He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor
    and takes no interest or profit from them.
He keeps my laws(AD) and follows my decrees.

He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

19 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.(AE) 20 The one who sins is the one who will die.(AF) The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.(AG)

21 “But if(AH) a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees(AI) and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die.(AJ) 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.(AK) 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased(AL) when they turn from their ways and live?(AM)

24 “But if a righteous person turns(AN) from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness(AO) they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.(AP)

25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’(AQ) Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust?(AR) Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.(AS) 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.(AT) 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent!(AU) Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.(AV) 31 Rid(AW) yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart(AX) and a new spirit. Why(AY) will you die, people of Israel?(AZ) 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent(BA) and live!(BB)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 18:10 Or things to a brother
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Ezekiel 17
Ezekiel 19
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