Old/New Testament
God Is Fair
18 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: 2 “What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes.
And that caused the children to grind their teeth from the sour taste’?
3 “As surely as I live, says the Lord God, this is true: You will not use this saying in Israel anymore. 4 Every living thing belongs to me. The life of the father is mine. And the life of the son is mine. The person who sins will die.
5 “There may be a good person. This person does what is fair and right. 6 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. He does not have physical relations with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding. 7 He does not mistreat anyone. But he returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to hungry people. He gives clothes to those who have no clothes. 8 He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between men. 9 He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. The person who does all these things is good. He will surely live, says the Lord God.
10 “But this person might have a wild son who murders people. This son may do any of these other bad things. 11 (But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife. 12 He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals things. He refuses to return what was promised for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does things which I hate. 13 He lends money for too much interest and profit. Will this son live? No, he will not live! He has done all these hated things. He will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own sins.
14 “But this son might have a son who has seen the sins his father did. But after seeing them, he does not do those things. 15 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. 16 He does not mistreat anyone. He does not keep something promised for a loan. He does not steal. But he gives bread to the hungry people. He gives clothes to people without clothes. 17 He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He does not take too much interest or profit when he lends money. He obeys my laws and lives by my rules. He will not die for his father’s sin. He will surely live. 18 But his father took other people’s money unfairly. He robbed his brother. He did what was wrong among his people. So he will die for his own sin.
19 “But you ask, ‘Why is the son not punished for the father’s sin?’ The son has done what is fair and right. He obeys all my rules. So he will surely live. 20 It is the person who sins that will die. The son will not be punished for the father’s sin. The father will not be punished for the son’s sin. The person who does right is responsible for his own goodness. The evil person is responsible for his own evil.
21 “But the evil person might stop doing all the sins he has done. And he might obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then he will surely live. He will not die. 22 His sins will be forgotten. Now he does what is right. So he will live. 23 I do not really want the evil person to die, says the Lord God. I want him to stop his bad ways and live.
24 “But a person who does right might stop doing good and do wrong. And he might do the same hated things an evil person does. Will he live? All his good acts will be forgotten. This is because he became unfaithful. He has sinned. So he will die because of his sins.
25 “But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Hear now, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair! 26 A good person might stop doing good. He might do wrong and die because of it. He will die because he did wrong. 27 An evil person might stop doing the evil things he has done. And he might do what is fair and right. He will save his life. 28 He thought about it and stopped doing all the sins he had done. He will surely live. He will not die. 29 But the people of Israel still say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ People of Israel, I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair.
30 “So I will judge you, people of Israel. I will judge each person by what he does, says the Lord God. Change your hearts. Stop all your sinning. Then sin will not bring your ruin. 31 Get rid of all the sins you have done. And get for yourselves a new heart and a new way to think. Why do you want to die, people of Israel? 32 I do not want anyone to die. So change your hearts and lives so you may live.
A Sad Song for Israel
19 “Sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel. 2 Say:
‘Your mother was like a female lion.
She lay down among the young lions.
She had many cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs.
And he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted.
And he ate people.
4 The nations heard about him.
He was trapped in their pit.
And they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 “‘The mother lion waited and saw
that there was no hope for her cub.
So she took another one of her cubs
and made him a strong lion.
6 This cub roamed among the lions.
He was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted.
And he ate people.
7 He destroyed their strong places.
He destroyed their cities.
The land and everything in it
were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 Then the nations came against him
from areas all around.
And they spread their net over him.
He was trapped in their pit.
9 Then they put him into a cage with chains.
And they brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him into prison.
Then his roar could not be heard again
on the mountains of Israel.
10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard.
It was planted beside the water.
The vine had many branches and gave much fruit
because there was plenty of water.
11 The vine had strong branches.
They were good enough for a king’s scepter.
The vine became tall
among the thick branches.
And it was seen because it was tall
with many branches.
12 But it was pulled up by its roots in anger.
It was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind dried it up.
Its fruit was torn off.
Its strong branches were broken off.
They were burned up.
13 Now the vine is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has spread from the vine’s main branch.
It has destroyed its fruit.
There is not a strong branch left on it
that could become a scepter for a king.’
This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.”
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things only so that you can use them for your own pleasures.
4 So, you people are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. So if a person wants to be a friend of the world, he makes himself God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone.”[a] 6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,
“God is against the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34
7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. 8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. 9 Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. 10 Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will honor you.
You Are Not the Judge
11 Brothers, do not say bad things about each other. If you say bad things about your brother in Christ or judge him, then you are saying bad things about the law he follows. You are also judging the law he follows. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge! 12 God is the only One who makes laws, and he is the only Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.
Let God Plan Your Life
13 Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” 14 But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. 15 So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are proud and you brag. All of this bragging is wrong. 17 And when a person knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, then he is sinning.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.