Beginning

18 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children get the sour taste’? ³ As I live,” says the Lord God, “you will never use this saying in Israel again. ⁴ For all souls belong to Me. Both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine. The soul who sins will die. ⁵ But if a man is right and good and does what is right and good, ⁶ he does not eat at the altars on the mountains or look up to the false gods of Israel. He does not sin with his neighbor’s wife or go near a woman during the time she is unclean. ⁷ He does not make it hard for anyone. He keeps his promise to pay back what he owes. He does not steal, but gives his bread to the hungry, and gives clothing to those who have none. ⁸ He does not make others pay back more than they owe him. He keeps away from sin, and is an honest judge when men argue. ⁹ He walks in My Laws and is careful to obey them. This man is right and good, and will live for sure,” says the Lord God.

¹⁰ “But he may have a son who acts in anger and kills another man, or does any of these other things ¹¹ that the father never did. He eats at the altars on the mountains, and sins with his neighbor’s wife. ¹² He makes it hard for the poor and those in need, and he steals. He does not keep his promise to pay back what he owes. He looks up to false gods, and does sinful acts. ¹³ And he makes people pay back more than they owe him. Will this man live? He will not live! He has done all these sinful acts, and for sure he will die. He will be guilty for his own death.

¹⁴ “Now this man may have a son who has seen all the sins his father has done, but does not do the same. ¹⁵ He does not eat at the altars on the mountains or look to the false gods of Israel. He does not sin with his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ or make it hard for anyone. He does not keep what another man has given him in trust for a promise. He does not steal, but he gives his bread to the hungry and clothing to those who have none. ¹⁷ He keeps away from sin. He does not make a person pay back more than he owes him. But he walks in My Laws and obeys them. This man will not die for his father’s sin. He will live for sure. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he used his power to rob his brother, and did what was wrong among his people, he will die for his sin.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer for the father’s sin?’ Since the son has done what is right and good, and has kept and obeyed all My Laws, he will live for sure. ²⁰ The person who sins will die. The son will not be punished for the father’s sin. And the father will not be punished for the son’s sin. The right and good man will receive good, and the sinful man will suffer for his sin.

²¹ “But if the sinful man turns from all the sins he has done and obeys all My Laws and does what is right and good, he will live for sure. He will not die. ²² None of the sins he has done will be remembered against him. Because of the right and good things he has done, he will live. ²³ Am I pleased with the death of a sinful man?” says the Lord God. “No, instead I would like him to turn from his sinful ways and live.

²⁴ “But when a right and good man turns away from doing what is right and good, and sins, doing all the bad things that a sinful man does, will he live? None of the right and good things he has done will be remembered. Because he has not been faithful and has sinned, he will die. ²⁵ Yet you say, ‘The Lord is not doing what is right.’ Listen, O people of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? ²⁶ When a right and good man turns away from doing what is right and good, and sins, and dies because of it, he dies because of the sin he has done. ²⁷ But when a sinful man turns away from his sin and does what is right and good, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he thought about it and turned away from all the sins he had done, he will live for sure. He will not die. ²⁹ But the people of Israel say, ‘The Lord is not doing what is right.’ Are My ways not right, O people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰ “So I will judge you, O people of Israel, each of you by what he has done,” says the Lord God. “Be sorry for all your sins and turn away from them, so sin will not destroy you. ³¹ Turn away from all the sins you have done, and get a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O people of Israel? ³² For I am not pleased with the death of anyone who dies,” says the Lord God. “So be sorry for your sins and turn away from them, and live.”

A Song of Sorrow for Israel’s Leaders

19 “As for you, sing a song of sorrow for the leaders of Israel, ² and say: ‘What was your mother? A female lion among lions! She lay down with young lions. She raised her young ones. ³ She brought up one of her little ones, and he became a lion. He learned to catch his food. He ate men. ⁴ The nations heard about him, and he was caught in their trap. And they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ⁵ Your mother waited until she saw that her hope was lost. Then she took another of her little ones and made him a young lion. ⁶ He walked up and down among the lions. He became a young lion and learned to catch his food. He ate men. ⁷ He wrecked their strong towers and destroyed their cities. The land and all who were in it were filled with fear because of the loud noise he made. ⁸ Then the nations came against him from their lands all around. They spread their net over him, and he was caught in their trap. ⁹ They put him in a prison with chains and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison so that his voice would never be heard again on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ Your mother was like a vine in your grape-field, planted by the water. It gave much fruit and was full of branches because there was much water. ¹¹ Its branches were strong enough to be made into sticks held by rulers to show their power. It grew as high as the clouds. Everyone saw how high it was and that it had many branches. ¹² But it was pulled up by the roots in anger and thrown down to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was torn off so that it dried up. And fire destroyed it. ¹³ Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴ Fire has spread from its largest branch and has destroyed its young branches and its fruit. No strong branch is left on it to be made into a stick for a ruler.’ This is a song of sorrow, and is to be used as a death song.”

Israel Fights against God

20 On the tenth day of the fifth month in the seventh year, some of the leaders of Israel came to ask the Lord’s will, and they sat down in front of me. ² The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ³ “Son of man, speak to the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “Have you come to ask My will? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not let you ask me anything.”’ ⁴ Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Make known to them the sinful things their fathers did. ⁵ Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “On the day I chose Israel, I raised My hand and made a promise to the children of the family of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I made a promise to them, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ ⁶ On that day I promised to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land I had chosen for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ⁷ I said to them, ‘Each of you get rid of the sinful things you have looked upon. Do not make yourselves sinful with the false gods of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸ But they turned against Me and would not listen to Me. They did not get rid of the sinful things they had looked upon. And they did not turn away from the false gods of Egypt.

“Then I said that I would be angry with them. I would send My anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted for the good of My name. I did what would keep My name clean in the eyes of the nations they lived among, in whose eyes I made Myself known to them by bringing My people out of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the desert. ¹¹ I gave them My Laws and made known to them My Words, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. ¹² I gave them My Days of Rest to be something special to see between Me and them, so they would know that I am the Lord Who makes them holy. ¹³ But the people of Israel turned against Me in the desert. They did not obey My Laws, and they turned away from My Words which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They made My Days of Rest very sinful. Then I said that I would be angry with them in the desert and destroy them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the good of My name. I did what would keep My name clean in the eyes of the nations who saw Me bring them out of Egypt. ¹⁵ So I promised them in the desert that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, the land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ¹⁶ This was because they turned away from My Laws and did not obey My Words. They did not keep My Days of Rest holy, for they followed after their false gods with all their heart. ¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them. I did not make an end of them in the desert.

¹⁸ “And I said to their children in the desert, ‘Do not keep the laws of your fathers, or follow their ways, or make yourselves sinful with their false gods. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God. Keep My Laws and obey My Words. ²⁰ Keep My Days of Rest holy, and they will be something special to see between Me and you. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ²¹ But the children turned against Me. They did not keep My Laws or obey My Words which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They did not keep My Days of Rest holy. So I said I would be angry with them. I would send My anger against them in the desert. ²² But I held My hand back, and acted for the good of My name, to keep it clean in the eyes of the nations who saw Me bring them out of Egypt. ²³ And I promised them in the desert that I would send them everywhere among the nations and spread them out among the lands. ²⁴ This is because they had not obeyed My Words. They had turned away from My Laws and did not keep My Days of Rest holy. And they worshiped the false gods of their fathers. ²⁵ Then I gave them laws that were not good, and words they could not live by. ²⁶ And I let them become sinful because of their gifts. I let them give all their first-born sons as burnt gifts. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.”’

²⁷ “So, son of man, speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “This is another way that your fathers have brought shame to My name by not being faithful to Me. ²⁸ I brought them into the land I promised to give them. And when they saw all the high hills and trees with many leaves, they gave their gifts on all of them and made Me angry. They also burned special perfume there, and poured out their drink gifts. ²⁹ Then I said to them, ‘What is this high place you go to?’ So it is called Bamah to this day.”’ ³⁰ So tell the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Will you make yourselves sinful in the same way your fathers did, and go after their sinful things? ³¹ When you give your gifts and make your sons go through the fire, you are making yourselves sinful with all your false gods to this day. Am I to let you question Me, O people of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not let you ask Me anything. ³² You say, ‘We will be like the nations, like the people of the lands, who serve wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen.

Israel Will Come Back to God

³³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will be King over you, and will rule with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁴ I will bring you out of the nations and countries where you have been divided. I will gather you together with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁵ I will bring you into the desert of the nations, and there I will punish you face to face. ³⁶ As I punished your fathers in the desert of Egypt, so I will punish you,” says the Lord God. ³⁷ “I will hold power over you and make you obey the agreement. ³⁸ I will take away from among you all those who sin or who turn against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they are living, but they will not go into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ³⁹ As for you, O people of Israel,” the Lord God says, “Go and serve your false gods, every one of you, now and later if you will not listen to Me. Do not ever again bring shame to My holy name with your gifts and your false gods. ⁴⁰ For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel,” says the Lord God, “all the people of Israel will serve Me in the land. There I will receive them. And there I will ask for the best of your gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹ I will receive you as the pleasing smell of special perfume, when I bring you out of the nations and gather you from the different lands where you have been sent. And I will prove Myself holy among you in the eyes of the nations. ⁴² Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I promised to give to your fathers. ⁴³ There you will remember your ways and all the bad things you did to make yourselves sinful. And you will hate yourselves in your own eyes for all the sinful things you have done. ⁴⁴ You will know that I am the Lord when I honor My name by being good to you even though your ways have been sinful and you have done many sinful things, O people of Israel,” says the Lord God.’”

Words against the South

⁴⁵ The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ⁴⁶ “Son of man, look toward the south. And speak out against the south and against the land of many trees in the Negev. ⁴⁷ Say to the land of trees in the Negev, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord. The Lord God says, “See, I am about to start a fire that will destroy all of your green trees and all of your dry trees. The hot fire will not be put out, and every face from south to north will be burned by it. ⁴⁸ Everyone will see that I, the Lord, have made the fire. It will not be put out.”’” ⁴⁹ Then I said, “O Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling picture-stories?’”