Ezekiel 18
18
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 "Why is it that you circulate among yourselves this parable, as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: 'The fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have been affected.'
3 As I live, says the Lord God, this parable shall no longer be a proverb for you in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father is mine, so also is the soul of the son. The soul that sins, the same shall die.
5 And if a man is just, and he accomplishes judgment and justice,
6 and if he does not eat upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and if he has not violated the wife of his neighbor, nor approached a menstruating woman,
7 and if he has not grieved any man, but has restored the collateral to the debtor, if he has seized nothing by violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment,
8 if he has not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase, if he has averted his hand from iniquity, and has executed true judgment between man and man,
9 if he has walked in my precepts and kept my judgments, so that he acts in accord with truth, then he is just; he shall certainly live, says the Lord God.
10 But if he raises a son who is a robber, who sheds blood, and who does any of these things,
11 (even though he himself does not do any of these things,) and who eats upon the mountains, and who defiles the wife of his neighbor,
12 who grieves the needy and the poor, who seizes with violence, who does not restore the collateral, and who lifts up his eyes to idols, committing abomination,
13 who lends upon usury, and who takes an increase, then shall he live? He shall not live. Since he has done all these detestable things, he shall certainly die. His blood shall be upon him.
14 But if he raises a son, who, seeing all his father's sins that he has done, is afraid and so does not act in a way similar to him,
15 who does not eat upon the mountains, nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and who does not violate the wife of his neighbor,
16 and who has not grieved any man, nor withheld the collateral, nor seized by violence, but instead has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment,
17 who has averted his hand from injuring the poor, who has not taken usury and an overabundance, who has acted according to my judgments and walked in my precepts, then this one shall not die for the iniquity of his father; instead, he shall certainly live.
18 As for his father, because he oppressed and did violence to his brother, and worked evil in the midst of his people, behold, he has died by his own iniquity.
19 And you say, 'Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father?' Clearly, since the son has worked judgment and justice, has observed all my precepts, and has done them, he shall certainly live.
20 The soul that sins, the same shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The justice of the just man shall be upon himself, but the impiety of the impious man shall be upon himself.
21 But if the impious man does penance for all his sins which he has committed, and if he keeps all my precepts, and accomplishes judgment and justice, then he shall certainly live, and he shall not die.
22 I will not remember all his iniquities, which he has worked; by his justice, which he has worked, he shall live.
23 How could it be my will that an impious man should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?
24 But if a just man turns himself away from his justice, and does iniquity in accord with all the abominations that the impious man so often does, why should he live? All his justices, which he has accomplished, shall not be remembered. By the transgression, in which he has transgressed, and by his sin, in which he has sinned, by these he shall die.
25 And you have said, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Therefore, listen, O house of Israel. How could it be that my way is not fair? And is it not instead your ways that are perverse?
26 For when the just man turns himself away from his justice, and commits iniquity, he shall die by this; by the injustice that he has worked, he shall die.
27 And when the impious man turns himself away from his impiety, which he has done, and accomplishes judgment and justice, he shall cause his own soul to live.
28 For by considering and turning himself away from all his iniquities, which he has worked, he shall certainly live, and he shall not die.
29 And yet the sons of Israel say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' How could it be that my ways are not fair, O house of Israel? And is it not instead your ways that are perverse?
30 Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge each one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and then iniquity will not be your ruin.
31 Cast all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed, away from you, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. And then why should you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I do not desire the death of one who dies, says the Lord God. So return and live."
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Ezekiel 18
18
God Is Fair
1The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 2“What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel:
‘The parents 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. 4Every living thing belongs to me. The life of the parent is mine, and the life of the child is mine. The person who sins is the one who will die.
5“Suppose a person is good and does what is fair and right. 6He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife or with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding. 7He does not mistreat anyone but returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none. 8He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between one person and another. 9He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. Whoever does these things is good and will surely live, says the Lord God.
10“But suppose this person has a wild son who murders people and who does any of these other things. 11(But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He has sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife. 12He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals and refuses to return what was promised for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does things which I hate. 13He lends money for too much interest and profit. Will this son live? No, he will not live! He has done all these hateful things, so he will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own death.
14“Now suppose this son has a son who has seen all his father’s sins, but after seeing them does not do those things. 15He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife. 16He does not mistreat anyone or keep something promised for a loan or steal. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none. 17He 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. 18But his father took other people’s money unfairly and robbed his brother and 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. 20The person who sins is the one who will die. A child will not be punished for a parent’s sin, and a parent will not be punished for a child’s sin. Those who do right will enjoy the results of their own goodness; evil people will suffer the results of their own evil.
21“But suppose the wicked stop doing all the sins they have done and obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then they will surely live; they will not die. 22Their sins will be forgotten. Because they have done what is right, they will live. 23I do not really want the wicked to die, says the Lord God. I want them to stop their bad ways and live.
24“But suppose good people stop doing good and do wrong and do the same hateful things the wicked do. Will they live? All their good acts will be forgotten, because they became unfaithful. They have sinned, so they will die because of their sins.
25“But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Listen, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair! 26When good people stop doing good and do wrong, they will die because of it. They will die, because they did wrong. 27When the wicked stop being wicked and do what is fair and right, they will save their lives. 28Because they thought about it and stopped doing all the sins they had done, they will surely live; they will not die. 29But 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 of you by what you do, says the Lord God. Change your hearts and stop all your sinning so sin will not bring your ruin. 31Get rid of all the sins you have done, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new way of thinking. Why do you want to die, people of Israel? 32I do not want anyone to die, says the Lord God, so change your hearts and lives so you may live.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.