Ezekiel 18:19-20:17

New International Version

¹⁹“Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.^(A) ²⁰The one who sins is the one who will die.^(B) The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.^(C)

²¹“But if^(D) a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees^(E) and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die.^(F) ²²None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.^(G) ²³Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased^(H) when they turn from their ways and live?^(I)

²⁴“But if a righteous person turns^(J) from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness^(K) they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.^(L)

²⁵“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’^(M) Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust?^(N) Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.^(O) ²⁸Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.^(P) ²⁹Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent!^(Q) Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.^(R) ³¹Rid^(S) yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart^(T) and a new spirit. Why^(U) will you die, people of Israel?^(V) ³²For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent^(W) and live!^(X)

A Lament Over Israel’s Princes

19 “Take up a lament^(Y) concerning the princes^(Z) of Israel ²and say:

“‘What a lioness^(AA) was your mother
    among the lions!
She lay down among them
    and reared her cubs.^(AB)
³She brought up one of her cubs,
    and he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
    and he became a man-eater.
⁴The nations heard about him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him with hooks^(AC)
    to the land of Egypt.^(AD)

⁵“‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,
    her expectation gone,
she took another of her cubs^(AE)
    and made him a strong lion.^(AF)
⁶He prowled among the lions,
    for he was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
    and he became a man-eater.^(AG)
⁷He broke down^[a] their strongholds
    and devastated^(AH) their towns.
The land and all who were in it
    were terrified by his roaring.
⁸Then the nations^(AI) came against him,
    those from regions round about.
They spread their net^(AJ) for him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.^(AK)
⁹With hooks^(AL) they pulled him into a cage
    and brought him to the king of Babylon.^(AM)
They put him in prison,
    so his roar^(AN) was heard no longer
    on the mountains of Israel.^(AO)

¹⁰“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard^[b]^(AP)
    planted by the water;^(AQ)
it was fruitful and full of branches
    because of abundant water.^(AR)
¹¹Its branches were strong,
    fit for a ruler’s scepter.
It towered high
    above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
    and for its many branches.^(AS)
¹²But it was uprooted^(AT) in fury
    and thrown to the ground.
The east wind^(AU) made it shrivel,
    it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
    and fire consumed them.^(AV)
¹³Now it is planted in the desert,^(AW)
    in a dry and thirsty land.^(AX)
¹⁴Fire spread from one of its main^[c] branches
    and consumed^(AY) its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
    fit for a ruler’s scepter.’^(AZ)

“This is a lament^(BA) and is to be used as a lament.”

Rebellious Israel Purged

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire^(BB) of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.^(BC)

²Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³“Son of man, speak to the elders^(BD) of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Have you come to inquire^(BE) of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.^(BF)’

⁴“Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors^(BG) ⁵and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose^(BH) Israel, I swore with uplifted hand^(BI) to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the Lord your God.^(BJ)” ⁶On that day I swore^(BK) to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(BL) the most beautiful of all lands.^(BM) ⁷And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images^(BN) you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols^(BO) of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.^(BP)”

⁸“‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me;^(BQ) they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.^(BR) So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.^(BS) ⁹But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt.^(BT) I did it to keep my name from being profaned^(BU) in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. ¹⁰Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.^(BV) ¹¹I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live.^(BW) ¹²Also I gave them my Sabbaths^(BX) as a sign^(BY) between us,^(BZ) so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.^(CA)

¹³“‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled^(CB) against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws^(CC)—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths.^(CD) So I said I would pour out my wrath^(CE) on them and destroy^(CF) them in the wilderness.^(CG) ¹⁴But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned^(CH) in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.^(CI) ¹⁵Also with uplifted hand I swore^(CJ) to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands^(CK)— ¹⁶because they rejected my laws^(CL) and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts^(CM) were devoted to their idols.^(CN) ¹⁷Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy^(CO) them or put an end to them in the wilderness.