Ezekiel 33:10-20

“Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You continually say: Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’ “Say to them, ‘As surely as I, Lord YAHWEH, exist—I take no delight in the death of the wicked, but I delight in seeing them turn from their ways so they can live. So, repent and turn from your evil ways. People of Israel, why would you want to die? Turn and come back to me!’ “Son of man, say to your people, ‘All the good things a good person has done will not be any help if that one decides to turn to sin. And all the sins of an evil person will not destroy him if the evildoer decides to repent and turn from sin. If the righteous turns to sin, the righteous person will not be able to live because of past righteous deeds.’ Suppose I say to a righteous person: ‘You will certainly live,’ but then he becomes confident in his righteousness and turns away and willfully sins; none of the good things he has done in the past will be remembered. He will die in his sins. If, however, I say to a wicked person: ‘You will certainly die,’ but then the wicked turns away from sin and does what is just and right by returning what has been stolen and returning the borrower’s pledge and by following the laws that give life and no longer doing wrong, that person will live and will not die. None of his previous sins will be counted against him, for he has done what is just and right—therefore, he will certainly live. “Yet your people say: ‘The ways of the Lord are not right.’ But it is their ways that are not right! When an upright person turns away from what is right and does what is evil, that person will die for it. And when a wicked person turns from being wicked and does what is just and right, that person will live. Yet you say: ‘The ways of the Lord are not right.’ Listen, people of Israel, I will judge each of you according to your ways.”