Ezekiel 18
Legacy Standard Bible
The Soul Who Sins Will Die
18 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “(A)What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,
3 As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 4 Behold, (C)all [b]souls are Mine; the [c]soul of the father as well as the [d]soul of the son is Mine. The [e]soul who (D)sins will die.
5 “But if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6 and does not (E)eat at the mountain shrines or (F)lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or (G)defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— 7 if a man does not mistreat anyone, but (H)returns to the debtor his pledge, (I)does not commit robbery, but (J)gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, 8 if he does not lend money on (K)interest or take (L)increase, if he turns his hand from injustice and (M)does true justice between man and man, 9 if he walks in (N)My statutes and My judgments and is careful to do the truth—(O)he is righteous and will surely (P)live,” declares Lord Yahweh.
10 “Then he may [f]have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother 11 (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines and (Q)defiles his neighbor’s wife; 12 he mistreats the (R)afflicted and needy, (S)commits robbery, does not return a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and (T)does abominations; 13 he (U)lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his (V)blood will be on himself.
14 “Now behold, he [g]has a son who has seen all his father’s sins which he has done. And he (W)saw this but does not do likewise. 15 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife 16 or mistreat anyone, or retain a pledge or commit robbery, but he (X)gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing; 17 he turns his hand away from [h]the afflicted, does not take interest or increase, but does My judgments and walks in My statutes; (Y)he will not die for his father’s iniquity; he will surely live. 18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.
19 “Yet you say, ‘(Z)Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ But the son has done (AA)justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them. He shall surely live. 20 The soul who (AB)sins will die. The (AC)son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son; the (AD)righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
21 “But if the (AE)wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 (AF)All his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him; because of his (AG)righteousness which he has done, he will live. 23 (AH)Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares Lord Yahweh, “is it not that he should (AI)turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man (AJ)turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? (AK)All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his (AL)unfaithfulness which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. 25 Yet you say, ‘(AM)The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is (AN)My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has done he will die. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away (AO)from his wickedness which he has done and does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. 28 Again, he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had done; he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his way,” declares Lord Yahweh. “[i](AP)Turn back and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. 31 (AQ)Cast away from yourselves all your transgressions which you have committed and [j]make yourselves a (AR)new heart and a new spirit! Now why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have (AS)no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Therefore, [k]turn back and live.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:2 Lit become dull
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or lives
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or person
- Ezekiel 18:10 Lit beget
- Ezekiel 18:14 Lit begets
- Ezekiel 18:17 Gr iniquity, as in 18:8
- Ezekiel 18:30 Or Repent
- Ezekiel 18:31 Or do, cf. 18:24, 26, 27
- Ezekiel 18:32 Or repent
Ezekiel 18
Common English Bible
Sins of parents and children
18 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 What do you mean by this proverb of yours about the land of Israel: “When parents eat unripe grapes, the children’s teeth suffer”? 3 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, no longer will you use this proverb in Israel! 4 All lives are mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child belong to me. Only the one who sins will die.
5 People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. 6 They don’t eat on the hills or give their attention to the idols of the house of Israel. They don’t defile the wives of their neighbors or approach menstruating women. 7 They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. 8 They don’t impose interest or take profit. They refrain from evil and settle cases between people fairly. 9 They follow my regulations, keep my case laws, and act faithfully. Such people are innocent, and they will live, proclaims the Lord God.
10 But suppose one of them has a violent child who sheds blood or does any one of these things, 11 even though his parents didn’t do any of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, robs others and doesn’t fulfill his obligations, pays attention to the idols and does detestable things, 13 and takes interest and profit. Should he live? He should not. He engaged in all these detestable practices. He will surely die, and his blood will be on him.
14 But suppose he has a child who sees all the sins that his father committed. He becomes alarmed and doesn’t do them. 15 He doesn’t eat on the mountains or pay attention to the idols of the house of Israel. He doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife. 16 He doesn’t cheat anyone, either by seizing collateral for loans or committing robbery. He gives his food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. 17 He refrains from oppressing the poor by taking neither interest nor profit. He observes my case laws and follows my regulations. He won’t die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. 18 As for his father: If he exploited the weak or committed robbery, or did anything else that wasn’t good for the people, he will die because of his own guilt.
19 You will say, “Why doesn’t the child bear his parent’s guilt?” The child has acted justly and responsibly. The child kept all my regulations and observed them. The child will surely live. 20 Only the one who sins will die. A child won’t bear a parent’s guilt, and a parent won’t bear a child’s guilt. Those who do right will be declared innocent, and the wicked will be declared guilty.
21 But if the wicked turn away from all the sins that they have committed, keep all my regulations, and act justly and responsibly, they will surely live and not die. 22 None of the sins that they committed will be held against them, but they will live because they do the right things. 23 Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Certainly not! If they change their ways, they will live.
24 If those who do the right thing turn from righteousness and engage in the same detestable practices that the wicked committed, can they do these things and live? None of their righteous deeds will be remembered. They will die because of their treacheries and sins. 25 But you say, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Listen, house of Israel, is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up? 26 When those who do the right thing turn from their responsible ways and act maliciously, they will die because of it. For their malicious acts they will die. 27 And when the wicked turn from their wicked deeds and act justly and responsibly, they will preserve their lives. 28 When they become alarmed and turn away from all their sins, they will surely live; they won’t die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up, house of Israel? 30 Therefore, I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. Turn, turn away from all your sins. Don’t let them be sinful obstacles for you. 31 Abandon all of your repeated sins. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? 32 I most certainly don’t want anyone to die! This is what the Lord God says. Change your ways, and live!
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