Ezekiel 18
18
God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked
1And the word of Yahweh came#Literally “was” to me, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“What do you mean by#Literally “What is to you” quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’#Or “dull,” set on edge” 3As I live,#Literally “life I” declares#Literally “declaration of” the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you#Literally “to you” to quote this proverb in Israel! 4Look! All lives are mine.#Literally “all of the lives are for me they” The lives of father and son alike are mine.#Literally “Like the life of the father and like the life of the son is to me look” The person#Or “life,” or “soul” sinning will die. 5And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of#Or “in” menstruation, 7and he oppresses no one#Literally “a person not” and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery#Literally “robbed things not he seized” and he gives#Or “shares” his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8and he does not charge interest#Literally “with the interest not he gives” and he takes no usury, and he holds back#Or “brings back” his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,#Literally “man and man” 9and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,#Or “watches” performing faithfully#Literally “to do with with faithfulness” —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares#Literally “declaration of” the Lord Yahweh.
10“And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood#Literally “shedding of blood” and does any of these things#Literally “and he does like from one from these” 11(though#Hebrew “And” he#That is, the father did not do all of these things), for the son also#Or “even” eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,#Literally “robbed things he seized” and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. 13He charges interest#Literally “with the interest he gives” and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.
14“And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. 15On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. 16And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;#Literally “robbed things not does he seize” he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17He brings back#Or “holds back” his hand from iniquity;#Cf. verse 8 he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes#Or “walks” in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18Because his father oppressed severely;#Literally “he oppressed oppression” he stole from his brother;#Literally “he seized robbed things of a brother” that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through#Or “in” his guilt.
19“Yet#Or “And” you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! 20The person,#Or “soul,” or “life” the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked#According to the reading tradition (Qere) shall be on him. 21But if the wicked returns from all of his sins#According to the reading tradition (Qere) that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! 22All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against#Or “for” him. Through#Or “By means of” his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23Have I delight by any means#Or “in any way” in the death of the wicked, declares#Literally “declaration of” the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that#Literally “and” he lives? 24And when the righteous turns#Literally “at turning of the righteous” from his righteousness, so that#Literally “and” he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then#Or “and” will he live because of all of his righteousness#According to the reading tradition (Qere) that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.#Literally “sin that he sinned” Through#Or “in/by” them he shall die.
25“Yet#Or “And” you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then#Or “and” he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! 27And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.#Literally “his soul/life he will keep alive” 28And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! 29And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?#Literally “not ways your not are right”
30“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one#Hebrew “man” according to his ways,” declares#Literally “declaration of” the Lord Yahweh. “Repent#Or “Turn/Return” and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31Throw away from yourselves#Literally “from on you” all of your transgressions that you committed,#Hebrew “committed with them” and make for yourselves#Literally “to you” a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares#Literally “declaration of” the Lord Yahweh. “And so repent#Or “turn/return” and live!”
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Ezekiel 18: LEB
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Ezekiel 18
18
Sins of parents and children
1The LORD’s word came to me: 2What do you mean by this proverb of yours about the land of Israel: “When parents eat unripe grapes, the children’s teeth suffer”? 3As surely as I live, says the LORD God, no longer will you use this proverb in Israel! 4All lives are mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child belong to me. Only the one who sins will die.
5People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. 6They don’t eat on the hills or give their attention to the idols of the house of Israel. They don’t defile the wives of their neighbors or approach menstruating women. 7They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. 8They don’t impose interest or take profit. They refrain from evil and settle cases between people fairly. 9They follow my regulations, keep my case laws, and act faithfully. Such people are innocent, and they will live, proclaims the LORD God.
10But suppose one of them has a violent child who sheds blood or does any one of these things, 11even though his parents didn’t do any of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12oppresses the poor and needy, robs others and doesn’t fulfill his obligations, pays attention to the idols and does detestable things, 13and takes interest and profit. Should he live? He should not. He engaged in all these detestable practices. He will surely die, and his blood will be on him.
14But suppose he has a child who sees all the sins that his father committed. He becomes alarmed and doesn’t do them. 15He doesn’t eat on the mountains or pay attention to the idols of the house of Israel. He doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife. 16He doesn’t cheat anyone, either by seizing collateral for loans or committing robbery. He gives his food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. 17He refrains from oppressing the poor by taking neither interest nor profit. He observes my case laws and follows my regulations. He won’t die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. 18As for his father: If he exploited the weak or committed robbery, or did anything else that wasn’t good for the people, he will die because of his own guilt.
19You will say, “Why doesn’t the child bear his parent’s guilt?” The child has acted justly and responsibly. The child kept all my regulations and observed them. The child will surely live. 20Only the one who sins will die. A child won’t bear a parent’s guilt, and a parent won’t bear a child’s guilt. Those who do right will be declared innocent, and the wicked will be declared guilty.
21But if the wicked turn away from all the sins that they have committed, keep all my regulations, and act justly and responsibly, they will surely live and not die. 22None of the sins that they committed will be held against them, but they will live because they do the right things. 23Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the LORD God. Certainly not! If they change their ways, they will live.
24If those who do the right thing turn from righteousness and engage in the same detestable practices that the wicked committed, can they do these things and live? None of their righteous deeds will be remembered. They will die because of their treacheries and sins. 25But you say, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Listen, house of Israel, is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up? 26When those who do the right thing turn from their responsible ways and act maliciously, they will die because of it. For their malicious acts they will die. 27And when the wicked turn from their wicked deeds and act justly and responsibly, they will preserve their lives. 28When they become alarmed and turn away from all their sins, they will surely live; they won’t die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up, house of Israel? 30Therefore, I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel. This is what the LORD God says. Turn, turn away from all your sins. Don’t let them be sinful obstacles for you. 31Abandon all of your repeated sins. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? 32I most certainly don’t want anyone to die! This is what the LORD God says. Change your ways, and live!
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