Ezekiel 18

1 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “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'?

Son of man, what mean you by this parable among the children of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten unripe grapes, and the children's teeth have been set on edge?

3 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.

[As] I live, says the Lord, surely this parable shall no more be spoken in Israel.

4 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!

For all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, they are mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.

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

But the man who shall be just, who executes judgment and righteousness,

6 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?

who shall not eat upon the mountains, and shall not at all lift up his eyes to the devices of the house of Israel, and shall not defile his neighbor's wife, and shall not draw near to her that is removed,

7 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?

and shall not oppress any man, [but] shall return the pledge of the debtor, and shall be guilty of no plunder, shall give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked;

8 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.

and shall not lend his money upon usury, and shall not receive usurious increase, and shall turn back his hand from injustice, shall execute righteous judgment between a man and his neighbor,

9 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.

and has walked in my commandments and kept mine ordinances, to do them; he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord.

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

And if he beget a mischievous son, shedding blood and committing sins,

11 (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?

who has not walked in the way of his righteous father, but has even eaten upon the mountains, and has defiled his neighbor's wife,

12 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,

and has oppressed the poor and needy, and has committed robbery, and not restored a pledge, and has set his eyes upon idols, has wrought iniquities,

13 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.

has lent upon usury, and taken usurious increase; he shall by no means live: he has wrought all these iniquities; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

14 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.

And if he beget a son, and [the son] see all his father's sins which he has wrought, and fear, and not do according to them,

15 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?

and [if he] has not eaten on the mountains, and has not set his eyes on the devices of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

16 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.

and has not oppressed a man, and has not retained the pledge, nor committed robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has clothed the naked,

17 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!

and has turned back his hand from unrighteousness, has not received interest or usurious increase, has wrought righteousness, and walked in mine ordinances; he shall not die for the iniquities of his father, he shall surely live.

18 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.

But if his father grievously afflict, or plunder, he has wrought enmity in the midst of my people, and shall die in his iniquity.

19 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!

But you will say, Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father? Because the son has wrought judgment and mercy, has kept all my statues, and done them, he shall surely live.

20 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.

But the soul that sins shall die: and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the transgressor shall be upon him.

21 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.

And if the transgressor turn away from all his iniquities which he has committed, and keep all my commandments, and do justice and mercy, he shall surely live, and shall by no means die.

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

None of his trespasses which he has committed shall be remembers: in his righteousness which he has done he shall live.

23 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?

Shall I at all desire death of the sinner, says the Lord, as I [desire] that he should turn from [his] evil way, and live?

24 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.

But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, according to all the transgressions which the transgressor has wrought, none of his righteousness which he has wrought shall be at all remembered: in his trespass wherein he has trespassed, and in his sins wherein he has sinned, in them shall he die.

25 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?

Yet you have said, The way of the Lord is not straight. Hear now, all the house of Israel; will not my way be straight? Is your way straight?

26 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.

When the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits a trespass, and dies in the trespass he has committed, he shall [even] die in it.

27 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.

And when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and shall do judgment and justice, he has kept his soul,

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

and has turned away from all his ungodliness which he has committed: he shall surely live, he shall not die.

29 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.

Yet the house of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not right. Is not my way right, O house of Israel? is not your way wrong?

30 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.

I will judge you, O house of Israel, says the Lord, each one according to his way: be converted, and turn from all your ungodliness, and it shall not become to you the punishment of iniquity.

31 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?

Cast away from yourselves all your ungodliness wherein you have sinned against me; and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: for why should you die, O house of Israel?

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

For I desire not the death of him that dies, says the Lord.