Ezekiel 18
Lexham English Bible
God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked
18 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “What do you mean by[c] quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,[d] ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’[e] 3 As I live,[f] declares[g] the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you[h] to quote this proverb in Israel! 4 Look! All lives are mine.[i] The lives of father and son alike are mine.[j] The person[k] sinning will die. 5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6 and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of[l] menstruation, 7 and he oppresses no one[m] and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery[n] and he gives[o] his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8 and he does not charge interest[p] and he takes no usury, and he holds back[q] his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,[r] 9 and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,[s] performing faithfully[t] —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares[u] the Lord Yahweh.
10 “And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood[v] and does any of these things[w] 11 (though[x] he[y] did not do all of these things), for the son also[z] eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12 He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,[aa] and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. 13 He charges interest[ab] and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.
14 “And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. 15 On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. 16 And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;[ac] he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17 He brings back[ad] his hand from iniquity;[ae] he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes[af] in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18 Because his father oppressed severely;[ag] he stole from his brother;[ah] that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through[ai] his guilt.
19 “Yet[aj] you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! 20 The person,[ak] the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked[al] shall be on him. 21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sins[am] that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! 22 All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against[an] him. Through[ao] his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I delight by any means[ap] in the death of the wicked, declares[aq] the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that[ar] he lives? 24 And when the righteous turns[as] from his righteousness, so that[at] he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then[au] will he live because of all of his righteousness[av] that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.[aw] Through[ax] them he shall die.
25 “Yet[ay] you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then[az] he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! 27 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.[ba] 28 And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! 29 And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?[bb]
30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one[bc] according to his ways,” declares[bd] the Lord Yahweh. “Repent[be] and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31 Throw away from yourselves[bf] all of your transgressions that you committed,[bg] and make for yourselves[bh] a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares[bi] the Lord Yahweh. “And so repent[bj] and live!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “What is to you”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Or “dull,” set on edge”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “life I”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “to you”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “all of the lives are for me they”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “Like the life of the father and like the life of the son is to me look”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or “life,” or “soul”
- Ezekiel 18:6 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “a person not”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “robbed things not he seized”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Or “shares”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “with the interest not he gives”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Or “brings back”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “man and man”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Or “watches”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “to do with with faithfulness”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “shedding of blood”
- Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “and he does like from one from these”
- Ezekiel 18:11 Hebrew “And”
- Ezekiel 18:11 That is, the father
- Ezekiel 18:11 Or “even”
- Ezekiel 18:12 Literally “robbed things he seized”
- Ezekiel 18:13 Literally “with the interest he gives”
- Ezekiel 18:16 Literally “robbed things not does he seize”
- Ezekiel 18:17 Or “holds back”
- Ezekiel 18:17 Cf. verse 8
- Ezekiel 18:17 Or “walks”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he oppressed oppression”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he seized robbed things of a brother”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 18:19 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 18:20 Or “soul,” or “life”
- Ezekiel 18:20 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:21 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:22 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 18:22 Or “By means of”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Or “in any way”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “at turning of the righteous”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “sin that he sinned”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Or “in/by”
- Ezekiel 18:25 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 18:26 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 18:27 Literally “his soul/life he will keep alive”
- Ezekiel 18:29 Literally “not ways your not are right”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Hebrew “man”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Or “Turn/Return”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “from on you”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Hebrew “committed with them”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “to you”
- Ezekiel 18:32 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:32 Or “turn/return”
Ezekiel 18
International Standard Version
The Outdated Proverb
18 This message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Why do you cite this proverb when you talk about Israel’s land: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes but it’s their children’s teeth that have become numb.’ 3 As long as I live,” declares the Lord, “you won’t use this proverb about Israel anymore. 4 Look! Every living soul belongs to me—the father’s as well as the son’s.[a] So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die.”
Standards of Righteous Behavior
5 “If a person is righteous, and practices what’s lawful and right, 6 if he doesn’t eat at mountain shrines, and doesn’t look to the idols that have been erected in Israel’s house, if he doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her time of menstrual separation, 7 if he doesn’t oppress anyone, but instead returns the debtor’s security for his debt, if he doesn’t rob anyone, but instead shares his food with the hungry and gives clothes to those who are naked, 8 if he doesn’t lend with usury or exact interest, but instead refuses to participate in[b] what is unjust, if he administers true justice between people,[c] 9 if he lives his life[d] consistent with my statutes and keeps my ordinances by practicing what’s true, then he’s righteous and will certainly live,” declares the Lord God.
Standards of Unrighteous Behavior
10 “Now suppose that person produces a son who’s violent, a murderer, and practices any of these things, 11 even though the father[e] hasn’t done any of these things. The son who eats at mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 oppresses the afflicted and the poor, robs others, doesn’t return security for a debt, looks to idols, does detestable things, 13 loans with usury, and exacts interest; will he live? He certainly will not! He has done all these detestable practices. He will certainly die, and his guilt will be his own fault.”[f]
Personal Accountability for Sin
14 “Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father’s sins, but then that son[g] began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things. 15 That is, suppose he doesn’t eat at the mountain shrines, doesn’t look to the idols of Israel’s house, doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 doesn’t oppress anyone, doesn’t take possession of a debtor’s pledge, or doesn’t steal, but instead shares his food with the hungry, gives clothes to those who are naked, 17 doesn’t refuse to help the afflicted, or refuses to loan with usury or exact interest, but instead follows my ordinances and lives his life consistent with my statutes. He won’t die because of his father’s sin, will he? No! He’ll certainly live. 18 As for his father, watch out! If he wrongfully oppressed or robbed his brother and did what wasn’t good among his people, he’ll die because of[h] his own sin.”
The Person who Sins will Die
19 “Yet you keep asking, ‘Why wouldn’t the son bear the punishment of his father’s sin?’ Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he’s certainly going to live. 20 The soul who sins dies. The son won’t bear the punishment of his father’s sin and the father won’t bear the punishment of his son’s sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him. 21 But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, which he did and keeps my statutes, then he’ll live. He won’t die. 22 None of the transgressions that he had committed will be held[i] against him. Because of the righteous deeds that he had done, he’ll live.
23 “I don’t take delight in the death of the wicked, do I?” asks the Lord God. “Shouldn’t I rather delight[j] when he turns from his wicked ways and lives? 24 But when the righteous person abandons his righteous deeds and commits evil, detestable practices, as wicked people do, he won’t live, will he? None of the righteous acts that he had done will be remembered. He’ll die in his treacherous unfaithfulness and sins that he had committed.”
Accusing God of Unrighteousness
25 “Yet you keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t being consistent with his standards.’ Pay attention, you house of Israel: Is my behavior really inconsistent with my standards? Isn’t it your behavior that isn’t just?
26 “When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and does evil, he’ll die because of that evil. He’ll die because of his unrighteous acts that he committed. 27 When a wicked person quits[k] his wicked behavior[l] and does what’s just and right, he’ll be enabled to live.[m] 28 Because he reconsidered his transgression and turned away from everything that he had been doing, he’ll certainly live and not die. 29 Yet Israel’s house keeps saying, ‘The Lord isn’t being consistent with his standards.’ Is it my behavior that’s inconsistent with my standards?[n] Is it not your behavior that’s inconsistent with my standards?”[o]
A Command to Repent
30 “Therefore, Israel, I’m going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you,” declares the Lord God. “So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won’t keep on being a stumbling block for you. 31 Stop your transgressing—the deeds by which you’ve rebelled—and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel? 32 I don’t take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord. “So repent, so you may live!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:4 Lit. As the soul of the father, so the soul of the son belongs to me.
- Ezekiel 18:8 Lit. instead withdraws his hand from
- Ezekiel 18:8 Lit. between man and man
- Ezekiel 18:9 Lit. he walks
- Ezekiel 18:11 Lit. though he
- Ezekiel 18:13 Lit. his blood will be on him
- Ezekiel 18:14 The Heb. lacks that son
- Ezekiel 18:18 Lit. die in
- Ezekiel 18:22 Lit. remembered
- Ezekiel 18:23 The Heb. lacks shouldn’t I rather delight
- Ezekiel 18:27 Or abandons
- Ezekiel 18:27 Lit. ways that he had committed
- Ezekiel 18:27 Lit. he makes his soul come alive
- Ezekiel 18:29 The Heb. has adjusted to the standard
- Ezekiel 18:29 The Heb. has adjusted to the standard
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