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Everyone Will Suffer for His Own Sins
18 Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares Adonay Yahweh, you will no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 The life of every person belongs to me. Fathers and their children belong to me. The person who sins will die.
5 “Suppose a righteous person does what is fair and right. 6 He doesn’t eat at the illegal mountain worship sites or look for help from the idols of the nation of Israel. He doesn’t dishonor his neighbor’s wife or have sexual intercourse with a woman while she is having her period. 7 He doesn’t oppress anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security for a loan. He doesn’t rob anyone. He gives food to people who are hungry, and he gives clothes to those who are naked. 8 He doesn’t lend money for interest or make an excessive profit. He refuses to do evil things, and he judges everyone fairly. 9 He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. This person is righteous. He will certainly live,” declares Adonay Yahweh.
10 “But suppose this person has a son who robs and murders. The son does all the things 11 that his father never did. He eats at the illegal mountain worship sites. He dishonors his neighbor’s wife. 12 He oppresses the poor and needy. He robs. He doesn’t return the security for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does disgusting things. 13 He lends money for interest and makes excessive profits. Will this person live? He will not live. He has done all these disgusting things. So he must die, and he will be responsible for his own death.
14 “But suppose this person has a son. The son sees all the sins that his father does. He is afraid, so he doesn’t do such things.[a] 15 He doesn’t eat at the illegal mountain worship sites or look for help from the idols of the nation of Israel. He doesn’t dishonor his neighbor’s wife. 16 He doesn’t oppress anyone. He doesn’t keep the security for a loan. He doesn’t rob anyone. He gives food to people who are hungry, and he gives clothes to those who are naked. 17 He refuses to hurt the poor. He doesn’t charge interest or make excessive profits. He obeys my rules and lives by my laws. He won’t die for his father’s sins. He will certainly live. 18 But his father has oppressed others, robbed his relative, and done what is wrong among his people. So the father will die because of his sin.
19 “But you ask, ‘Why isn’t the son punished for his father’s sin?’ It is because the son has done what is fair and right. He obeyed my rules and followed them. He will certainly live. 20 The person who sins will die. A son will not be punished for his father’s sins, and a father will not be punished for his son’s sins. The righteousness of the righteous person will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be his own.
21 “But suppose a wicked person turns away from all the sins that he has done. He obeys all my laws and does what is fair and right. He will certainly live. He will not die. 22 All the rebellious things that he did will not be remembered. He will live because of the right things that he did. 23 I don’t want wicked people to die.” declares Adonay Yahweh. “I want them to turn from their evil ways and live.
24 “But suppose a righteous person turns away from doing right and he does evil things. He does all the disgusting things that the wicked person did. Will he live? All the right things that he has done will not be remembered because of his unfaithfulness and because of his sin. He will die because of them.
25 “But you say, ‘Adonay’s way is unfair.’ Listen, nation of Israel, isn’t my way fair? Isn’t it your ways that are unfair? 26 When a righteous person turns away from doing right and does evil things, he will die. He will die because of the evil things he has done. 27 When a wicked person turns away from the wicked things that he has done and does what is fair and right, he will live. 28 He realized what he was doing and turned away from all the rebellious things that he had done. He will certainly live. He will not die.
29 “But the nation of Israel says, ‘Adonay’s way is unfair.’ Isn’t my way fair, nation of Israel? Isn’t it your ways that are unfair?
30 “That is why I will judge each of you by what you have done, people of Israel,” declares Adonay Yahweh. “Change the way you think and act. Turn away from all the rebellious things that you have done so that you will not fall into sin. 31 Stop all the rebellious things that you are doing. Get yourselves new hearts and new spirits. Why do you want to die, nation of Israel? 32 I don’t want anyone to die,” declares Adonay Yahweh. “Change the way you think and act!”
Funeral Songs for Israel’s Princes
19 Sing a funeral song for the princes of Israel. 2 Say:
Your mother was like a lioness.
She lay down among the lions.
She fed many cubs.
3 One of the cubs she raised became a young lion.
He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.
He ate people.
4 The nations heard about him,
caught him in their pit,
and brought him with hooks to Egypt.
5 The lioness waited until she saw that there was no more hope.
Then she took another one of her cubs
and raised him into a young lion.
6 He became a young lion, and he prowled among the lions.
He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.
He ate people.
7 He destroyed fortresses
and turned cities into wastelands.
The land and everyone living in it
were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 The nations from every region came together against him.
They spread their net over him
and caught him in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison
so that his roar wouldn’t be heard anymore
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a grapevine
that was planted near water.
It had a lot of fruit and many branches
because there was plenty of water.
11 Its branches were strong.
They were used to make scepters for kings.
It grew to be tall with many branches around it,
and everyone saw it because of its many branches.
12 But in anger it was uprooted and thrown to the ground.
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches broke off.
They withered and were burned.
13 Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and waterless land.
14 Fire has spread from the vine’s main branch.
Fire has destroyed its fruit.
It no longer has any strong branches
that could be used as a king’s scepter.
This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.
Christ Offered a Superior Sacrifice
9 The first promise had rules for the priests’ service. It also had a holy place on earth. 2 A tent was set up. The first part of this tent was called the holy place. The lamp stand, the table, and the bread of the presence were in this part of the tent. 3 Behind the second curtain was the part of the tent called the most holy place. 4 It contained the gold incense burner and the ark of the Lord’s promise. The ark was completely covered with gold. In the ark were the gold jar filled with manna, Aaron’s staff that had blossomed, and the tablets on which the promise[a] was written. 5 Above the ark were the angels[b] of glory with their wings overshadowing the throne of mercy. (Discussing these things in detail isn’t possible now.)
6 That is how these two parts of the tent were set up. The priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties. 7 But only the chief priest went into the second part of the tent. Once a year he entered and brought blood that he offered for himself and for the things that the people did wrong unintentionally. 8 The Holy Spirit used this to show that the way into the most holy place was not open while the tent was still in use.
9 The first part of the tent is an example for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices that were brought there could not give the worshiper a clear conscience. 10 These gifts and sacrifices were meant to be food, drink, and items used in various purification ceremonies. These ceremonies were required for the body until God would establish a new way of doing things.
32 They made Yahweh angry by the water at Meribah.
Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did,
33 since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.
34 They did not destroy the people as Yahweh had told them.
35 Instead, they intermarried with other nations.
They learned to do what other nations did,
36 and they worshiped their idols,
which became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land became polluted with blood.
39 They became filthy because of what they did.
They behaved like prostitutes.
40 Yahweh burned with anger against his own people.
He was disgusted with those who belonged to him.
41 He handed them over to other nations,
and those who hated them ruled them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and made them subject to their power.
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to plot rebellion against him
and to sink deeper because of their sin.
44 He saw that they were suffering
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his promise[a] to them.
In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
46 He let them find compassion
from all those who held them captive.
47 Rescue us, O Yahweh our Elohim, and gather us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.
48 Thanks be to Yahweh Elohim of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say amen.
Hallelujah!
10 Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend.
Do not go to a relative’s home when you are in trouble.
A neighbor living nearby is better than a relative far away.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.