Personal Accountability for Sin

¹⁴ “Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father’s sins, but then that son^[a] began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things. ¹⁵ That is, suppose he doesn’t eat at the mountain shrines, doesn’t look to the idols of Israel’s house, doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ doesn’t oppress anyone, doesn’t take possession of a debtor’s pledge, or doesn’t steal, but instead shares his food with the hungry, gives clothes to those who are naked, ¹⁷ doesn’t refuse to help the afflicted, or refuses to loan with usury or exact interest, but instead follows my ordinances and lives his life consistent with my statutes. He won’t die because of his father’s sin, will he? No! He’ll certainly live. ¹⁸ As for his father, watch out! If he wrongfully oppressed or robbed his brother and did what wasn’t good among his people, he’ll die because of^[b] his own sin.”

The Person who Sins will Die

¹⁹ “Yet you keep asking, ‘Why wouldn’t the son bear the punishment of his father’s sin?’ Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he’s certainly going to live. ²⁰ The soul who sins dies. The son won’t bear the punishment of his father’s sin and the father won’t bear the punishment of his son’s sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him.