The Fairness of God’s Judgment

¹² “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The ^(A)righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, ^(B)he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, ^(C)but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. ¹⁴ Again, ^(D)when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does ^[a]what is lawful and ^[b]right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(E)restores the pledge, ^(F)gives back what he has stolen, and walks in ^(G)the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (H)None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

^17 (I)“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not ^[c]fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! ^18 (J)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, ^(K)‘The way of the Lord is not ^[d]fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”