Ezekiel 18

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

The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

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?

“What do you mean, you who use this proverb concerning the land of Israel and say, 'Fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are made blunt'?

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

As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—there will certainly no longer be any occasion for you to use this proverb in Israel.

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.

Behold! Every life belong to me—the life of the father as well as the life of the son, they belong to me! The soul who sins is the one who will die!

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

What can be said about a man who is righteous and who carries out justice and righteousness—

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;

if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor's wife, nor approached a woman during her monthly period, is he a righteous man?

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;

What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man?

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,

What can be said about a man who does not charge too much interest for the money he loans, and he does not take too much profit for what he sells? It is said of him that he carries out justice and establishes faithfulness between people.

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.

If that man walks in my statutes and keeps my decrees to act faithfully, then the promise for this righteous man is this: He will surely live!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

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

But suppose that he has a violent son who sheds blood and does any one of these things that were mentioned,

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

(though his father has not done any of these things). He eats upon the mountains and he defiles his neighbor's wife, what can be said about him?

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,

This man oppresses the poor and needy, and he seizes and robs, and he does not return a pledge, and he lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits disgusting actions,

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.

and he lends out money at too high interest and he makes too much profit on what he sells, should that man live? Surely he will not! He will certainly die and his blood will be on him because he has done all these detestable things.

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 behold! Suppose there is a man who bears a son, and his son sees all the sins that his father has committed, and though he sees them, 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,

That son does not eat upon the mountains, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor's wife, what can be said about him?

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;

That son does not oppress anyone, or seize a pledge, or take stolen things, but instead gives his food to the hungry and covers up the naked with 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.

That son does not oppress anyone or take interest that is too high or make too much profit for a loan, but he carries out my decrees and walks according to my statutes; that son will not die for his father's sin: He will surely live!

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.

His father, since he oppressed others by extortion and robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people—behold, he will die in his iniquity.

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.

But you say, 'Why does the son not bear the iniquity of his father?' Because the son carries out justice and righteousness and keeps all my statutes; he does them. He will surely live!

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.

The one who sins, he is the one who will die. A son will not bear his father's iniquity, and a father will not bear his son's iniquity. The righteousness of the one who acts rightly will be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on himself.

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 the wicked turns away from all his sins that he has done, and keeps all my statutes and performs justice and righteousness, then he will certainly live and not die.

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.

All the transgressions that he has committed will not be called to mind against him. He will live by the righteousness that he practices.

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?

Do I greatly rejoice over the death of the wicked—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—and not in his turning away from his way so that he may live?

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 the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and practices abominations like all the abominations that the wicked person does, then will he live? All the righteousness that he had done will not be called to mind when he betrays me in his treason. So he will die in the sins that he committed.

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, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' Listen, house of Israel! Are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

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.

When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity and dies because of them, then he will die in the iniquity that he has done.

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 when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has done and performs justice and righteousness, then he will preserve his life.

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.

For he has seen and turned away from all the transgressions that he had done. He will surely live, and he will not die.

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 the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' How is my way not fair, house of Israel? It is your ways that are not fair.

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 I will judge each man among you according to his ways, house of Israel!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions so that they will not be stumbling blocks of iniquity against you.

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?

Throw away from yourselves all of the transgressions that you have committed; make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel?

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.

For I have no delight in the death of the one who dies—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—so repent and live!”