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
People Will Die Because of Their Own Sins
1A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 2“You people have a proverb about the land of Israel. What do you mean by it? It says,
“ ‘The parents eat sour grapes.
But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.’
3“You will not use that proverb in Israel anymore,” announces the Lord and King. “And that is just as sure as I am alive. 4Everyone belongs to me. Parents and children alike belong to me. A person will die because of their own sins.
5“Suppose there is a godly man
who does what is fair and right.
6And he does not eat at the mountain temples.
He does not worship the statues of Israel’s gods.
He does not sleep with another man’s wife.
He does not have sex with his own wife
during her monthly period.
7He does not treat anyone badly.
Instead, he always returns things he takes
to make sure loans are paid back.
He does not steal.
Instead, he gives his food to hungry people.
He provides clothes for those who are naked.
8He does not charge interest when he lends money to them.
He does not make money from them.
He keeps himself from doing what is wrong.
He judges cases fairly.
9He obeys my rules.
He is faithful in keeping my laws.
He always does what is right.
You can be sure he will live,”
announces the Lord and King.
10“But suppose he has a mean son who harms other people. The son commits murder. Or he does some other things that are wrong. 11Suppose he does these things even though his father never did.
“Suppose the son eats at the mountain temples.
And he sleeps with another man’s wife.
12He treats poor and needy people badly.
He steals.
He does not pay back what he owes.
He worships statues of gods.
He does other things I hate.
13He charges interest when he lends money to poor people. He makes money from them.
Will a man like that live? He will not! He must be put to death. And what happens to him will be his own fault. He did many things I hate.
14“But suppose this son has a son of his own. And the son sees all the sins his father commits. He sees them, but he does not do them.
15“Suppose he does not eat at the mountain temples.
And he does not worship the statues of Israel’s gods.
He does not sleep with another man’s wife.
16He does not treat anyone badly.
He does not make people give him something
to prove they will pay back what they owe him.
He does not steal.
Instead, he gives his food to hungry people.
He provides clothes for those who are naked.
17He keeps himself from committing sins.
He does not charge interest when he lends money to poor people.
He does not make money from them.
He keeps my laws and obeys my rules.
He will not die because of his father’s sin. You can be sure he will live. 18But his father will die because of his own sin. He got rich by cheating others. He robbed his relatives. He also did what was wrong among his people.
19“But you still ask, ‘Is the son guilty along with his father?’ No! The son did what was fair and right. He was careful to obey all my rules. So you can be sure he will live. 20A person will die because of their own sins. A child will not be guilty because of what their parent did. And a parent will not be guilty because of what their child did. The right things a godly person does will be added to their account. The wrong things a sinful person does will be charged against them.
21“But suppose a sinful person turns away from all the sins they have committed. And they obey all my rules. They do what is fair and right. Then you can be sure they will live. They will not die. 22None of the sins they have committed will be held against them. Because of the godly things they have done, they will live. 23When sinful people die, it does not give me any joy,” announces the Lord and King. “But when they turn away from their sins and live, that makes me very happy.
24“Suppose a godly person stops doing what is right. And they sin. They do the same evil things a sinful person does. They do things I hate. Then they will not live. I will not remember any of the right things they have done. They have not been faithful to me. They have also committed many other sins. So they are guilty. They will die.
25“But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Listen to me, you Israelites. What I do is always fair. What you do is not. 26Suppose a godly person stops doing what is right. And they sin. Then they will die because of it. They will die because of the sin they have committed. 27But suppose a sinful person turns away from the evil things they have done. And they do what is fair and right. Then they will save their life. 28They think about all the evil things they have done. And they turn away from them. So you can be sure they will live. They will not die. 29But the Israelites still say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ People of Israel, what I do is always fair. What you do is not.
30“So I will judge you Israelites. I will judge each of you in keeping with what you have done,” announces the Lord and King. “Turn away from your sins! Turn away from all the evil things you have done. Then sin will not bring you down. 31Get rid of all the evil things you have done. Let me give you a new heart and a new spirit. Then you will be faithful to me. Why should you die, people of Israel? 32When anyone dies, it does not give me any joy,” announces the Lord and King. “So turn away from your sins. Then you will live!
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