Ezekiel 18-19

American Standard Version

18 The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying, ² What mean ye, that ye use this proverb ^[a]concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? ³ As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. ⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

⁵ But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ⁶ and hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither hath come near to a woman in her impurity, ⁷ and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath taken nought by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; ⁸ he that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true justice between man and man, ⁹ hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept mine ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁰ If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and ^[b]that doeth any one of these things, ¹¹ and that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor’s wife, ¹² hath wronged the poor and needy, hath taken by robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, ¹³ hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely ^[c]die; his blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴ Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins, which he hath done, and ^[d]feareth, and doeth not such like; ¹⁵ that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ neither hath wronged any, hath not taken aught to pledge, neither hath taken by robbery, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; ¹⁷ that hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed mine ordinances, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die ^[e]in his iniquity.

¹⁹ Yet say ye, Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

²¹ But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ²² None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. ²³ Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live? ²⁴ But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

²⁵ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? ²⁶ When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, ^[f]and dieth ^[g]therein; ^[h]in his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. ²⁷ Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. ²⁸ Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ²⁹ Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? ³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; ^[i]so iniquity shall not be your ^[j]ruin. ³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.

19 Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ² and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps. ³ And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. ⁴ The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt. ⁵ Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. ⁶ And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. ⁷ And he knew their ^[k]palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring. ⁸ Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. ⁹ And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ Thy mother was like a vine, ^[l]in thy blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. ¹¹ And it had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and ^[m]their stature was exalted among the ^[n]thick boughs, and ^[o]they were seen in ^[p]their height with the multitude of ^[q]their branches. ¹² But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them. ¹³ And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴ And fire is gone out of ^[r]the rods of its branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.