A False Proverb Refuted

18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ² “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:

³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

Turn and Live

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why ^(S)should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. ^20 (T)The soul who sins shall die. ^(U)The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. ^(V)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, ^(W)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹ “But ^(X)if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^22 (Y)None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall ^(Z)live. ^23 (AA)Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “But ^(AB)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? ^(AC)All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ^(AD)‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? ^26 (AE)When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. ²⁷ Again, ^(AF)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. ²⁸ Because he ^(AG)considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^29 (AH)Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?

^30 (AI)“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. ^(AJ)“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. ^31 (AK)Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a ^(AL)new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For ^(AM)I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and ^(AN)live!”

Intermarriage with Pagans

9 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not ^(A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, ^(B)with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have ^(C)taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the ^(D)holy seed is ^(E)mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this ^[a]trespass.” ³ So when I heard this thing, ^(F)I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down ^(G)astonished. ⁴ Then everyone who ^(H)trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the ^(I)evening sacrifice.

⁵ At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and ^(J)spread out my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶ And I said: “O my God, I am too ^(K)ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for ^(L)our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has ^(M)grown up to the heavens. ⁷ Since the days of our fathers to this day ^(N)we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities ^(O)we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the ^(P)sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to ^(Q)humiliation,^[b] as it is this day. ⁸ And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may ^(R)enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. ^9 (S)For we were slaves. ^(T)Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but ^(U)He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us ^(V)a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹ which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the ^(W)uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity. ¹² Now therefore, ^(X)do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and ^(Y)never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and ^(Z)leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God ^(AA)have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this, ¹⁴ should we ^(AB)again break Your commandments, and ^(AC)join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be ^(AD)angry with us until You had ^[c]consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor? ¹⁵ O Lord God of Israel, ^(AE)You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. ^(AF)Here we are before You, ^(AG)in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”