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!”
Currently Selected:
Ezekiel 18: LEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Ezekiel 18
18
Everyone Will Suffer for His Own Sins
1The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 2“What do you mean when you use this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, you will no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4The life of every person belongs to me. Fathers and their children belong to me. The person who sins will die.
5“Suppose a righteous person does what is fair and right. 6He doesn’t eat at the illegal mountain worship sites or look for help from the idols of the nation of Israel. He doesn’t dishonor his neighbor’s wife or have sexual intercourse with a woman while she is having her period. 7He doesn’t oppress anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security for a loan. He doesn’t rob anyone. He gives food to people who are hungry, and he gives clothes to those who are naked. 8He doesn’t lend money for interest or make an excessive profit. He refuses to do evil things, and he judges everyone fairly. 9He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. This person is righteous. He will certainly live,” declares the Almighty Lord.
10“But suppose this person has a son who robs and murders. The son does all the things 11that his father never did. He eats at the illegal mountain worship sites. He dishonors his neighbor’s wife. 12He oppresses the poor and needy. He robs. He doesn’t return the security for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does disgusting things. 13He lends money for interest and makes excessive profits. Will this person live? He will not live. He has done all these disgusting things. So he must die, and he will be responsible for his own death.
14“But suppose this person has a son. The son sees all the sins that his father does. He is afraid, so he doesn’t do such things.#18:14 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Greek, Latin; other Hebrew manuscripts “Although he sees them, he doesn’t do such things.” 15He doesn’t eat at the illegal mountain worship sites or look for help from the idols of the nation of Israel. He doesn’t dishonor his neighbor’s wife. 16He doesn’t oppress anyone. He doesn’t keep the security for a loan. He doesn’t rob anyone. He gives food to people who are hungry, and he gives clothes to those who are naked. 17He refuses to hurt the poor. He doesn’t charge interest or make excessive profits. He obeys my rules and lives by my laws. He won’t die for his father’s sins. He will certainly live. 18But his father has oppressed others, robbed his relative, and done what is wrong among his people. So the father will die because of his sin.
19“But you ask, ‘Why isn’t the son punished for his father’s sin?’ It is because the son has done what is fair and right. He obeyed my rules and followed them. He will certainly live. 20The person who sins will die. A son will not be punished for his father’s sins, and a father will not be punished for his son’s sins. The righteousness of the righteous person will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be his own.
21“But suppose a wicked person turns away from all the sins that he has done. He obeys all my laws and does what is fair and right. He will certainly live. He will not die. 22All the rebellious things that he did will not be remembered. He will live because of the right things that he did. 23I don’t want wicked people to die.” declares the Almighty Lord. “I want them to turn from their evil ways and live.
24“But suppose a righteous person turns away from doing right and he does evil things. He does all the disgusting things that the wicked person did. Will he live? All the right things that he has done will not be remembered because of his unfaithfulness and because of his sin. He will die because of them.
25“But you say, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ Listen, nation of Israel, isn’t my way fair? Isn’t it your ways that are unfair? 26When a righteous person turns away from doing right and does evil things, he will die. He will die because of the evil things he has done. 27When a wicked person turns away from the wicked things that he has done and does what is fair and right, he will live. 28He realized what he was doing and turned away from all the rebellious things that he had done. He will certainly live. He will not die.
29“But the nation of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s way is unfair.’ Isn’t my way fair, nation of Israel? Isn’t it your ways that are unfair?
30“That is why I will judge each of you by what you have done, people of Israel,” declares the Almighty Lord. “Change the way you think and act. Turn away from all the rebellious things that you have done so that you will not fall into sin. 31Stop all the rebellious things that you are doing. Get yourselves new hearts and new spirits. Why do you want to die, nation of Israel? 32I don’t want anyone to die,” declares the Almighty Lord. “Change the way you think and act!”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.