Ezekiel 18:19-20:17

English Standard Version

¹⁹“Yet you say, ^(A)‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done ^(B)what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, ^(C)he shall surely live. ²⁰^(D)The soul who sins shall die. ^(E)The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. ^(F)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, ^(G)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹^(H)“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does ^(I)what is just and right, ^(J)he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²^(K)None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. ²³^(L)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^(M)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? ^(N)None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for ^(O)the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

²⁵^(P)“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^(Q)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. ²⁷Again, ^(R)when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. ²⁸Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹Yet 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 ^(S)I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. ^(T)Repent and turn from all your transgressions, ^(U)lest iniquity be your ruin.^[a] ³¹^(V)Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and ^(W)make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ^(X)Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³²^(Y)For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; ^(Z)so turn, and live.”

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

19 And you, ^(AA)take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²and say:

What was your mother? ^(AB)A lioness!
    Among lions she crouched;
in the midst of young lions
    she reared her cubs.
³And she brought up one of her cubs;
    ^(AC)he became a young lion,
^(AD)and he learned to catch prey;
    he devoured men.
⁴The nations heard about him;
    ^(AE)he was caught in their pit,
^(AF)and they brought him with hooks
    to the land of Egypt.
⁵When she saw that she waited in vain,
    that her hope was lost,
^(AG)she took another of her cubs
    and made him a young lion.
⁶He prowled among the lions;
    he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
    he devoured men,
⁷and seized^[b] their widows.
    He laid waste their cities,
and the land was appalled and all who were in it
    at the sound of his roaring.
⁸^(AH)Then the nations set against him
    from provinces on every side;
^(AI)they spread their net over him;
    ^(AJ)he was taken in their pit.
⁹With hooks ^(AK)they put him in a cage^[c]
    and ^(AL)brought him to the king of Babylon;
    they brought him into custody,
that his voice should no more be heard
    on ^(AM)the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Your mother was ^(AN)like a vine in a vineyard^[d]
    planted by the water,
^(AO)fruitful and full of branches
    ^(AP)by reason of abundant water.
¹¹Its strong stems became
    rulers' scepters;
it towered aloft
    among the thick boughs;^[e]
it was seen in its height
    with the mass of its branches.
¹²But the vine was plucked up in fury,
    cast down to the ground;
^(AQ)the east wind dried up its fruit;
    they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
    fire consumed it.
¹³^(AR)Now it is planted in the wilderness,
    in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴^(AS)And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,
    has consumed its fruit,
^(AT)so that there remains in it no strong stem,
    no scepter for ruling.

This is ^(AU)a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Israel's Continuing Rebellion

20 ^(AV)In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^(AW)the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^(AX)and sat before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me: ³^(AY)“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? ^(AZ)As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(BA)I will not be inquired of by you. ⁴^(BB)Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^(BC)Let them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(BD)On the day when I chose Israel, ^(BE)I swore^[f] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, ^(BF)making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^(BG)I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. ⁶On that day I swore to them that ^(BH)I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^(BI)flowing with milk and honey, ^(BJ)the most glorious of all lands. ⁷And I said to them, ^(BK)‘Cast away the detestable things ^(BL)your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^(BM)the idols of Egypt; ^(BN)I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸^(BO)But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^(BP)None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^(BQ)and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹^(BR)But I acted ^(BS)for the sake of my name, ^(BT)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^(BU)in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰^(BV)So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹^(BW)I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^(BX)by which, if a person does them, he shall live. ¹²Moreover, I gave them ^(BY)my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^(BZ)that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ¹³^(CA)But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^(CB)They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^(CC)and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^(CD)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^(CE)in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Moreover, ^(CF)I swore to them in the wilderness ^(CG)that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^(CH)flowing with milk and honey, ^(CI)the most glorious of all lands, ¹⁶because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; ^(CJ)for their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷Nevertheless, ^(CK)my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or ^(CL)make a full end of them in the wilderness.

Footnotes

Ezekiel 18:30 Or lest iniquity be your stumbling block
Ezekiel 19:7 Hebrew knew
Ezekiel 19:9 Or in a wooden collar
Ezekiel 19:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood
Ezekiel 19:11 Or the clouds
Ezekiel 20:5 Hebrew I lifted my hand; twice in this verse; also verses 6, 15, 23, 28, 42