18 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘You say this proverb about Israel: “The fathers have eaten bitter fruit, but it causes their children's teeth to hurt.” Why do you say that?^{[a] 3} Now I, the Lord God, tell you this: You will no longer say that proverb in Israel! ⁴ Everyone who lives belong to me. I have authority over the life of the father and over the life of the son. It is the people who do wrong things who will die because of their sins.

⁵ There may be a truly good man who does what is right and fair. ⁶ He does not go up the mountains and eat the food of idols. He does not pray to the idols that other Israelites worship. He does not have sex with another man's wife. He does not have sex with a woman when she is unclean. ⁷ He is not cruel to other people. When he lends money to someone, he gives back anything that he has taken as a guarantee. He does not take things that belong to other people. He gives food to hungry people. He gives clothes to poor people. ⁸ He does not lend money to someone and then ask to receive more money back. He refuses to do anything that is wrong. He helps people in a way that is right and fair. ⁹ He faithfully obeys my laws and my rules.

A man like that is righteous. He will continue to live. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁰ But that man may have a son who is cruel and violent. He may kill other people. He may do those bad things that his father never did. ¹¹ He may go up the mountains and eat the food of idols. He might have sex with another man's wife. ¹² He might be cruel to people who are poor and weak. He might take things that belong to other people. He might not give back things that he took as a guarantee. He prays to idols. He does disgusting things. ¹³ When he lends money to people, he wants them to pay back a lot more money to him.

A man like that will not continue to live! He will certainly die, because he himself has done all these disgusting things. He is guilty, so he himself must die as his punishment.

¹⁴ But this wicked man might have a son himself. The son sees all the sins that his father has done. He thinks about them. Then he decides that he will not live as his father has lived. ¹⁵ He does not go up the mountains to eat the food of idols. He does not pray to the idols that other Israelites worship. He does not have sex with another man's wife. ¹⁶ He is not cruel to anyone. He does not keep anything that he has taken from someone as a guarantee. He does not rob other people. But he gives food to hungry people. He gives clothes to poor people. ¹⁷ He refuses to do anything that is wrong. When he lends money to people, he does not take more back money back from them. He obeys my rules and my laws.

This man will certainly continue to live. He will not die because of his father's sins. ¹⁸ But his father will die as punishment for his own sins. He cheated people. He robbed people. He did evil things among his own people. So he will die because of his own sins.

¹⁹ You should not say, “Surely the son should receive punishment because of his father's sins.” If the son does what is good and right, and he obeys my laws and my rules, he will continue to live. ²⁰ It is the person who does wrong things who will die. A son will not receive punishment because of his father's sins. And a father will not receive punishment because of his son's sins. Righteous people will receive the good things that they deserve for the good things that they have done. But wicked people will receive the punishment that they deserve for the wicked things that they have done.

²¹ But a wicked person might turn away from the sins that he has been doing. He might decide to obey my laws and do things that are right and good. If he does that, he will certainly continue to live. He will not die as his punishment. ²² I would no longer say that he is guilty because of the sins that he has done. Instead, he will continue to live, because he has done things that are right. ²³ It does not make me happy when a wicked person dies. I want wicked people to stop doing wicked things. Then I am happy because they will continue to live. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

²⁴ A righteous person may stop doing things that are good and right. He may start to do the same disgusting things that wicked people do. Then he will not continue to live. I will not remember any of the good things that he did. Instead, I will punish him because of the sins that he has done. He has not been faithful to me, so he will die.

²⁵ But you say, “The Lord is not doing what is right!” So listen to me, Israel's people. It is you who are not doing what is right! It is not me! ²⁶ If a righteous person stops doing good things and he does bad things instead, he will die. Yes, he will die because of the wrong things that he has done. ²⁷ And if a wicked person stops doing wicked things and he does things that are right, he will continue to live. ²⁸ That wicked person realized that he was doing bad things. So he turned away from his sins. Because of that he will certainly continue to live. He will not die. ²⁹ But you, Israel's people, say, “The Lord is not doing what is right!” Do you really think that is true? No, you are the people who do not do what is right, you Israelites!

³⁰ The Almighty Lord says this to you, Israel's people: I will judge each of you as you deserve for the way that you live. So change how you live! Turn away from all the wicked things that you do. Then your sins will not finally destroy you. ³¹ Stop doing all the sins that you have been doing. Instead, think with new thoughts. Live with a new spirit inside you.^[b] You do not need to die, Israel's people! ³² It does not make me happy when anyone has to die. Turn away from your sins so that you continue to live! That is what the Almighty Lord says.’