Ezekiel 18
English Standard Version
The Soul Who Sins Shall Die
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you[a] mean (A)by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, (B)‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge’? 3 (C)As I live, declares the Lord God, (D)this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: (E)the soul who sins shall die.
5 “If a man is righteous and does (F)what is just and right— 6 if he (G)does not eat upon the mountains or (H)lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, (I)does not defile his neighbor's wife (J)or approach (K)a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 (L)does not oppress anyone, but (M)restores to the debtor his pledge, (N)commits no robbery, (O)gives his bread to the hungry (P)and covers the naked with a garment, 8 (Q)does not lend at interest (R)or take any profit,[b] withholds his hand from injustice, (S)executes true justice between man and man, 9 (T)walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; (U)he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.
10 “If he fathers a son who is violent, (V)a shedder of blood, who does any of these things 11 (though he himself did none of these things), (W)who even eats upon the mountains, (X)defiles his neighbor's wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, (Y)commits robbery, (Z)does not restore the pledge, (AA)lifts up his eyes to the idols, (AB)commits abomination, 13 (AC)lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; (AD)his blood shall be upon himself.
14 “Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: 15 he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, 16 does not oppress anyone, (AE)exacts no pledge, (AF)commits no robbery, (AG)but gives his bread to the hungry (AH)and covers the naked with a garment, 17 withholds his hand from iniquity,[c] takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, (AI)and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; (AJ)he shall surely live. 18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, (AK)behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
19 “Yet you say, (AL)‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done (AM)what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, (AN)he shall surely live. 20 (AO)The soul who sins shall die. (AP)The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. (AQ)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, (AR)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 (AS)“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does (AT)what is just and right, (AU)he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 (AV)None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 (AW)Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 (AX)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? (AY)None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for (AZ)the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
25 (BA)“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 (BB)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, (BC)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 (BD)I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. (BE)Repent and turn from all your transgressions, (BF)lest iniquity be your ruin.[d] 31 (BG)Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and (BH)make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! (BI)Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 (BJ)For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; (BK)so turn, and live.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:2 The Hebrew for you is plural
- Ezekiel 18:8 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor; also verses 13, 17 (compare Leviticus 25:36)
- Ezekiel 18:17 Septuagint; Hebrew from the poor
- Ezekiel 18:30 Or lest iniquity be your stumbling block
Ezekiel 18
Christian Standard Bible
Personal Responsibility for Sin
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:
3 As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“you will no longer use this proverb in Israel.(C) 4 Look, every life belongs to me.(D) The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.(E)
5 “Suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right: 6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines[a](F) or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife(G) or approach a woman during her menstrual impurity.(H) 7 He doesn’t oppress anyone(I) but returns his collateral to the debtor.(J) He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry(K) and covers the naked with clothing. 8 He doesn’t lend at interest or for profit(L) but keeps his hand from injustice and carries out true justice between men.(M) 9 He follows my statutes and keeps my ordinances, acting faithfully. Such a person is righteous; he will certainly live.”(N) This is the declaration of the Lord God.
10 “But suppose the man has a violent son, who sheds blood(O) and does any of these things, 11 though the father has done none of them. Indeed, when the son eats at the mountain shrines and defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 and when he oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, and does not return collateral, and when he looks to the idols, commits detestable acts,(P) 13 and lends at interest or for profit, will he live? He will not live! Since he has committed all these detestable acts, he will certainly die. His death will be his own fault.[b](Q)
14 “Now suppose he has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, and though he sees them, he does not do likewise. 15 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife. 16 He doesn’t oppress anyone, hold collateral, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. 17 He keeps his hand from harming the poor, not taking interest or profit on a loan. He practices my ordinances and follows my statutes. Such a person will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will certainly live.
18 “As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity because he practiced fraud, robbed his brother, and did among his people what was not good.(R) 19 But you may ask, ‘Why doesn’t the son suffer punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ (S) Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all my statutes, he will certainly live. 20 The person who sins is the one who will die.(T) A son won’t suffer punishment for the father’s iniquity, and a father won’t suffer punishment for the son’s iniquity.(U) The righteousness of the righteous person will be on him,(V) and the wickedness of the wicked person will be on him.(W)
21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sins he has committed,(X) keeps all my statutes, and does what is just and right, he will certainly live; he will not die. 22 None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him.(Y) He will live because of the righteousness he has practiced.(Z) 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” (AA) This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives? 24 But when a righteous person turns from his righteousness(AB) and acts unjustly, committing the same detestable acts that the wicked do, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered.(AC) He will die because of the treachery he has engaged in and the sin he has committed.
25 “But you say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’(AD) Now listen, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair? 26 When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly, he will die for this. He will die because of the injustice he has committed. 27 But if a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 28 He will certainly live because he thought it over and turned from all the transgressions he had committed; he will not die. 29 But the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ Is it my ways that are unfair, house of Israel? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair?
30 “Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways.”(AE) This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Repent and turn from all your rebellious acts, so they will not become a sinful stumbling block to you. 31 Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.(AF) Why should you die, house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “So repent and live!
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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