Ezekiel 18

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

2 Why do you make use of this saying about the land of Israel, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children's teeth are on edge?

“You people quote [RHQ] this proverb [and say that it is] about Israel: ‘Parents/People eat sour grapes, but it is their children who have a very sour taste in their mouths', [which means that you think that it is not fair for you to be punished for your ancestors’ sins].

3 By my life, says the Lord, you will no longer have this saying in Israel.

But [I], Yahweh the Lord, declare that [as surely] as I am alive, you Israeli people will no longer quote that proverb.

4 See, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine: death will be the fate of the sinner's soul.

Everyone [who is alive] belongs to me. That includes children and their parents; they all belong to me. And it is those who sin who will [because of their sins].

5 But if a man is upright, living rightly and doing righteousness,

[So, ] suppose there is a righteous person [always] does what is fair and right [DOU].

6 And has not taken flesh with the blood for food, or given worship to the images of the children of Israel; if he has not had connection with his neighbour's wife, or come near to a woman at the time when she is unclean;

He does not [meat sacrificed to idols] on the hilltops, he does not request help from idols. He does not have sex with someone else’s wife or have sex with a woman during her monthly menstrual period.

7 And has done no wrong to any, but has given back to the debtor what is his, and has taken no one's goods by force, and has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;

He does not mistreat/oppress people; if [borrows money from him and gives him his cloak to guarantee that he will pay the money back], he always gives the cloak back to that [before the sun goes down]. He does not rob people. He gives food to hungry people. He gives clothing to people who need clothes.

8 And has not given his money out at interest or taken great profits, and, turning his hand from evil-doing, has kept faith between man and man,

When he lends money to people, he does not [do it just to] charge big interest. He does not do [SYN] things that are evil. He [always] decides things fairly.

9 And has been guided by my rules and has kept my laws and done them: he is upright, life will certainly be his, says the Lord.

He faithfully obeys all [DOU] my laws. That man is truly righteous; he will remain alive. [That is what I, ] Yahweh the Lord, promise.

10 If he has a son who is a thief, a taker of life, who does any of these things,

But suppose that man has a son who acts violently, who murders people and does any of these other things, even though his father has not done any of them:

11 Who has taken flesh with the blood as food, and has had connection with his neighbour's wife,

He [meat sacrificed to idols] on the hilltops. He has sex with other people’s wives.

12 Has done wrong to the poor and to him who is in need, and taken property by force, and has not given back to one in his debt what is his, and has given worship to images and has done disgusting things,

He mistreats/oppresses poor and needy people. He robs people. If someone gives him his cloak to [that he will pay the money back], he never gives the cloak back to [before the sun goes down]. He seeks help from idols. He does [other] detestable things.

13 And has given out his money at interest and taken great profits: he will certainly not go on living: he has done all these disgusting things: death will certainly be his fate; his blood will be on him.

When he lends money, he [very big] interest. If you think that such a person [be allowed to] remain alive [RHQ], you are certainly wrong. Because he has done those detestable things, he will surely be executed, and it will be his own fault [IDM].

14 Now if he has a son who sees all his father's sins which he has done, and in fear does not do the same:

But suppose that man has a son who sees all the sins that his father commits, but he does not do those things:

15 Who has not taken the flesh with the blood for food, or given worship to the images of the children of Israel, and has not had connection with his neighbour's wife,

He does not [meat sacrificed to idols] on the hilltops. He does not request help from idols. He does not have sex with other people’s wives.

16 Or done wrong to any, or taken anything from one in his debt, or taken goods by force, but has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;

He does not mistreat/oppress people. If he lends money to someone, he does not require that person to give him his cloak to guarantee that he will pay the money back. He does not rob anyone. He gives food to those who need it. He gives clothes to those who need clothes.

17 Who has kept his hand from evil-doing and has not taken interest or great profits, who has done my orders and been guided by my rules: he will certainly not be put to death for the evil-doing of his father; life will certainly be his.

He does not commit sins, [like his father did], and does not charge big interest [DOU] when he lends money. He faithfully obeys [all] [DOU] my laws. That person will not be executed for his father’s sins; he will surely remain alive.

18 As for his father, because he was cruel, took goods by force, and did what is not good among his people, truly, death will overtake him in his evil-doing.

But his father will be executed for the sins that he committed, because he cheated people and robbed people and did [other] things that are evil.

19 But you say, Why does not the son undergo punishment for the evil-doing of the father? When the son has done what is ordered and right, and has kept my rules and done them, life will certainly be his.

[If] you ask, ‘Why should the [man’s] son not (suffer/be punished) for the evil things that his father did?’, [I will answer that] the son has done what is fair and right [DOU] and has obeyed all my laws, so he will surely remain alive.

20 The soul which does sin will be put to death: the son will not be made responsible for the evil-doing of the father, or the father for the evil-doing of the son; the righteousness of the upright will be on himself, and the evil-doing of the evil-doer on himself.

It is those who sin who will [because of their sins]. People will not be punished for the sins of their parents, or for the sins of their children. Good/Righteous people will be rewarded for their being good/righteous, and evil people will be punished for [doing] evil.

21 But if the evil-doer, turning away from all the sins which he has done, keeps my rules and does what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his; death will not be his fate.

But if a wicked person (turns away from/quits) doing all the evil things that he did previously, and if he starts to obey faithfully all my laws, and does what is fair and right [DOU], he will surely remain alive; he will not be executed.

22 Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in memory against him: in the righteousness which he has done he will have life.

He will not be punished for the sins he committed [previously]. Because of the good/righteous things that he has done [since that time], he [be allowed to] remain alive.

23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the evil-doer? says the Lord: am I not pleased if he is turned from his way so that he may have life?

[I], Yahweh the Lord, declare that I certainly am not [RHQ] happy about wicked people dying. Instead, I am happy when they turn away from their wicked behavior, [because of that, they] remain alive.

24 But when the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, like all the disgusting things which the evil man does, will he have life? Not one of his upright acts will be kept in memory: in the wrong which he has done and in his sin death will overtake him.

But if a righteous person stops doing righteous things and [starts to] commit sins and does the same detestable things that wicked people do, he will certainly not [RHQ] [be allowed to] remain alive. I will not think about the righteous things that he did previously. Because he did not [do what pleases me], and because of [all] the sins that he has committed, he will be executed.

25 But you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Give ear, now, O children of Israel; is my way not equal? are not your ways unequal?

But you say, ‘Yahweh does not act fairly!’ You Israeli people, listen to what I say: It is certainly not [RHQ] what I do that is unfair, it is what you continually do that is not fair/right!

26 When the upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, death will overtake him; in the evil which he has done death will overtake him.

If a righteous person (turns away from/quits) doing what is righteous and commits sins, he will [for committing those sins].

27 Again, when the evil-doer, turning away from the evil he has done, does what is ordered and right, he will have life for his soul.

But if a wicked person turns away from doing wicked things and does what is just and right [DOU], he will save [from being executed/punished].

28 Because he had fear and was turned away from all the wrong which he had done, life will certainly be his, death will not be his fate.

Because he has thought about all the evil things that he did and has turned away from doing them, he will [be allowed to] live. He will not be executed [for having done evil things].

29 But still the children of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, are my ways not equal? are not your ways unequal?

But [you] Israeli people [MTY] say, ‘Yahweh does not act fairly.’ You people of Israel, my behavior is certainly not [RHQ] unfair! It is your behavior that is not right.

30 For this cause I will be your judge, O children of Israel, judging every man by his ways, says the Lord. Come back and be turned from all your sins; so that they may not be the cause of your falling into evil.

Therefore, you Israeli people [MTY], I, Yahweh the Lord, will judge each of you according to what you have done. Repent! Turn [away] from all your wicked behavior! Then you will not be destroyed [PRS] because of your sins.

31 Put away all your evil-doing in which you have done sin; and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: why are you desiring death, O children of Israel?

Get rid of all your wicked behavior, and get a new way of thinking [IDM, DOU]. You Israeli people [MTY], (do you really want to be executed for your sins?/you act as though you want to be executed [for your sins]) [RHQ].

32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him on whom death comes, says the Lord: be turned back then, and have life.

[I], Yahweh the Lord, declare that I am not pleased about your dying. So repent, and remain alive!”