The Daily Audio Bible
The Wicked Will Die; The Righteous Will Live
18 The word of the Lord came to me.
2 What do you mean, you who keep repeating this proverb concerning the soil of Israel, “Fathers eat sour grapes, and their sons’ teeth are set on edge”? 3 As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, you will never again use this proverb in Israel. 4 Indeed, all souls are mine. The soul of the father is mine just like the soul of the son. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
5 If a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, 6 if he does not eat on the mountains and does not lift up his eyes to the filthy idols[a] of the house of Israel, if he does not defile his neighbor’s wife and does not approach a woman during her period, 7 if he does not exploit anyone but returns the collateral given to him for a loan, if he does not seize another person’s property by force but gives his own food to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, 8 if he does not deduct a fee from the money he lends to someone and he does not demand that people repay more than he lent them, if he holds back his hand from unrighteousness and administers impartial justice between two parties, 9 that is, if he walks in my statutes and keeps my ordinances by acting faithfully, that man is righteous and he will surely live, declares the Lord God.
10 Now if he fathers a violent son, who sheds blood or who does any one of these evil things to a brother[b] 11 (although the father did not do all these things), but the son goes so far as to eat on the mountains and even defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 exploits the poor and the needy, seizes other people’s property by force, does not return the collateral on a loan, lifts up his eyes to the filthy idols, commits abominations, 13 and deducts a fee from the money he lends to someone and demands that people repay more than he lent them—will he live? He will not live! He committed all these abominations, so he will surely be put to death. His blood will be upon him.
14 But if that son himself fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has committed, and though he sees, he does not do likewise— 15 he does not eat on the mountains, he does not lift up his eyes to the filthy idols of the house of Israel, he does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 he does not exploit anyone, he does not require collateral for a loan, he does not seize another person’s property by force, he gives his own food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothing, 17 he takes care not to harm the poor,[c] he does not deduct a fee from the money he lends someone or demand that people repay more than he lent them, but he keeps my ordinances and walks according to my statutes—that man will not die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. 18 But his father, if he practices extortion, seizes his brother’s goods by force, and does what was not good among his own people, he will surely die because of his own guilt.
19 But you ask, “Why doesn’t the son share in the guilt of the father?” Because the son did what was just and right. He kept all my statutes and carried them out, so he will surely live. 20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share in the guilt of the father, and the father will not share in the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous person will be credited to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be charged against him alone.
21 A wicked man, if he turns away from[d] all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and carries out justice and righteousness, he will surely live. He will not die. 22 All of the rebellious acts that he had committed will not be remembered against him. Because of his righteousness that he has practiced, he will live. 23 Do I really find any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Don’t I want him to turn from his ways and live?
24 But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does what is unrighteous—namely, all the abominations that the wicked man practices—will he live? All the righteous deeds that he did will not be remembered. Because he added one infidelity to another and because of the sins that he has committed, because of them, he will die.
25 But you say, “The Lord’s way is not fair.” Listen now, house of Israel. Is it my way that is not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26 If a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices unrighteousness, he will die because of it. Because of the unrighteousness that he has practiced, he will die.
27 But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has done and practices justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. 28 Because he has seen and turned away from[e] all the rebellious acts that he had committed, he will surely live, and he will not die. 29 But the house of Israel says, “The Lord’s way is not fair.” Is it really my ways that are not fair, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?
30 Therefore, I will judge each one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn away from all your rebellious acts, so that you will not set out a stumbling block that makes you guilty. 31 Throw off from yourselves all your rebellious actions by which you have rebelled, and obtain a new heart and a new spirit for yourselves. Why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God. So repent and live!
A Parable About Israel’s Princes
19 Now you are to take up a lament for the princes of Israel. 2 This is what you are to say:
What a lioness your mother was!
She crouched among the lions.
Among the young lions she reared her cubs.
3 She raised up one of her cubs.[f]
When he became a young lion,
he learned to tear his prey.
He even ate humans.
4 When the nations heard about him,
he was trapped in their pit.
With hooks they led him to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she was waiting in vain,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
6 He prowled around among the lions,
because he too had become a young lion.
He learned to tear prey.
He even ate humans.
7 He knew how many widows he made[g]
as he ravaged their cities.
The land and everyone in it were stunned
by the noise of his roaring.
8 Nations set upon him from the surrounding provinces.
They spread their net over him,
and he was trapped in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a wooden cage,[h]
and they brought him[i] to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into prison
so that his roar would no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,[j]
planted by water, fruitful and full of branches
because of plentiful waters.
11 Its strong branches[k] became scepters for rulers.
It towered high, among the clouds.
It was outstanding because of its height,
and because of the abundance of its branches.
12 But the vine was uprooted in wrath,
and it was hurled to the ground.
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was torn off so that it dried up,
and fire devoured it.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has come out from its main branch
and consumed its fruit,
so that it no longer has a strong branch,
no scepter fit for ruling.
This is a lament, and it was used as a lament.
The Earthly Tent
9 The first covenant had regulations for worship and for an earthly sanctuary. 2 The first room of the tent was furnished with the lampstand, the table, and the Bread of the Presence.[a] This room was called the Holy Place. 3 And behind the second curtain was the room of the tent called the Most Holy Place. 4 It had the golden censer for incense[b] and the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered entirely with gold. Inside the Ark was the golden jar holding the manna, Aaron’s staff that had sprouted buds, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the Ark, the glorious cherubim overshadowed the atonement seat. We are not going to talk about these things in detail now.
6 After these things had been furnished in this way, the priests would always enter the first room of the tent to perform their ministries. 7 But only the high priest would enter the second section of the tent, once each year, and not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that, while the first room of the tent existed, a way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed.
9 This tent is a picture pointing to the present time. Since it is only a picture, the gifts and sacrifices that are brought there are not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper. 10 They are only bodily regulations about foods, drinks, and various washings, which were in force until the time of the new order.
32 Again by the waters of Meribah they provoked the Lord,
and trouble came on Moses because of them.
33 Because they rebelled against his Spirit,[a]
Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.
Rebellion Continues in the Land
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mixed with the nations,
and they learned to do what the nations did.
36 They also served their idols,
and the idols became a snare for them.
37 They also sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
So the land was polluted by their children’s blood,
39 and they made themselves unclean by what they did.
They prostituted themselves by their actions.
The Judgment
40 Therefore the Lord burned with anger against his people,
and he loathed the people who belonged to him.
41 So he handed them over to the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Then their enemies oppressed them,
and they had to submit to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they deliberately rebelled,
and they sank down in their guilt.
God’s Grace
44 But he looked on them in their distress when he heard their outcry.
45 So for their sake he remembered his covenant.
Because of his great mercy, he changed his course.
46 Then he caused all their captors to have pity on them.
Closing Prayer
47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name and praise you confidently.
Closing Doxology
48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity,
and all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord.
10 Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you.
A neighbor who is near is better than a brother who is far away.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.