^12 (A)“And you, son of man, say to ^(B)your people, ^(C)The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ^(D)and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^(E)and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness^[a] when he sins.

^18 (A)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. ¹⁹ And ^(B)when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.

¹⁴ if my people who are called by my name ^(A)humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

²⁵ whom God ^(A)put forward as ^(B)a propitiation ^(C)by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in ^(D)his divine forbearance he had passed over ^(E)former sins.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^(A)we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

^2 (A)“Son of man, speak to ^(B)your people and say to them, If ^(C)I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^(D)watchman,

^24 (A)But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? ^(B)None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for ^(C)the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

^25 (D)“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? ^26 (E)When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. ²⁷ Again, ^(F)when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

³⁰ “Therefore ^(G)I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. ^(H)Repent and turn from all your transgressions, ^(I)lest iniquity be your ruin.^{[a] 31 (J)}Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and ^(K)make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ^(L)Why will you die, O house of Israel? ^32 (M)For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; ^(N)so turn, and live.”

^21 (A)“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does ^(B)what is just and right, ^(C)he shall surely live; he shall not die.

^20 (A)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(B)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(C)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(D)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(E)but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”