Ezekiel 18
18
Individual Responsibility
1The LORD spoke to me 2#Jer 31.29and said, “What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel?
‘The parents ate the sour grapes,
But the children got the sour taste.’
3“As surely as I am the living God,” says the Sovereign LORD, “you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die.
5“Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9#Lev 18.5Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live,” says the Sovereign LORD.
10“Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any#18.10 Some ancient translations who does any; Hebrew unclear. of these things 11that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death.
14“Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practised, but does not follow his example. 15He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17He refuses to do evil#18.17 Some ancient translations (see also verse 8) to do evil; Hebrew from the poor. and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed,#18.18 Some ancient translations robbed; Hebrew unclear. and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed.
19“But you ask, ‘Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?’ The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20#Deut 24.16It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. A good person will be rewarded for doing good, and an evil person will suffer for the evil he does.
21“If an evil person stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil person die?” asks the Sovereign LORD. “No, I would rather see him repent and live.
24“But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.
25“But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29And you Israelites say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right.
30“Now I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32I do not want anyone to die,” says the Sovereign LORD. “Turn away from your sins and live.”
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Ezekiel 18: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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