Ezekiel 18
New American Standard Bible
God Deals Justly with Individuals
18 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “(A)What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,
3 As I live,” declares the Lord [b]God, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 4 Behold, (C)all [c]souls are Mine; the [d]soul of the father as well as the [e]soul of the son is Mine. The [f]soul who (D)sins will die.
5 “But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, 6 if he does not (E)eat at the mountain shrines or (F)raise 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 and if a man does not oppress anyone, but (H)restores 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 and if he does not [g]lend money at (K)interest or take [h](L)interest, if he keeps his hand from injustice and (M)executes true justice between one person and another, 9 if he walks in (N)My statutes and keeps My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—(O)he is righteous and will certainly (P)live,” declares the Lord God.
10 “However, he may father a violent son who sheds blood, and does any one 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 oppresses the (R)poor and needy, (S)commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but raises his eyes to the idols and (T)commits abomination, 13 (U)lends money at interest and takes [i]interest; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he shall certainly be put to death; his (V)blood will be on himself.
14 “Now behold, he has fathered a son who saw all his father’s sins which he committed, but he has (W)seen them and does not do likewise. 15 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he has not defiled his neighbor’s wife, 16 nor oppressed anyone, nor retained a pledge, nor committed robbery; instead, he (X)gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, 17 he keeps his hand from [j]the poor, does not take any kind of interest on loans, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; (Y)he will not die for his father’s guilt, he will certainly 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 guilt.
19 “Yet you say, ‘(Z)Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced (AA)justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall certainly live. 20 The person who (AB)sins will die. A (AC)son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; 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 person turns from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. 22 (AF)All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his (AG)righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. 23 (AH)Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “[k]rather than that he would (AI)turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous person (AJ)turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and does according to all the abominations that the wicked person does, will he live? (AK)All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his (AL)treachery 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, house of Israel! Is (AN)My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? 26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has committed he dies. 27 But when a wicked person turns away (AO)from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. 28 Since he understood and turned away from all his offenses which he had committed, he shall certainly 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, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “(AP)Repent and turn away from all your offenses, so that wrongdoing does not become a stumbling block to you. 31 (AQ)Hurl away from you all your offenses which you have committed and make yourselves a (AR)new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, house of Israel? 32 For I take (AS)no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:2 Lit I.e., the children suffer for the fathers’ sins
- Ezekiel 18:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or lives
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or person
- Ezekiel 18:8 Lit give
- Ezekiel 18:8 Or usury, and so throughout the ch; i.e., on other kinds of loans
- Ezekiel 18:13 I.e., on other kinds of loans
- Ezekiel 18:17 As in MT; LXX injustice
- Ezekiel 18:23 Lit is it not
Ezekiel 18
Holman 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 “Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right: 6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines(F) or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife(G) or come near 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 wrongdoing 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 “Now 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 raises his eyes 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 blood will be on him.(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 raise his eyes 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 what was wrong among his people.(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 “Now 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 practices iniquity, 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 practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has practiced. 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 transgressions, so they will not be a stumbling block that causes your punishment. 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!
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