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
18
God Is Fair
1The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: 2“What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel:
‘The fathers 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 father is mine. And the life of the son is mine. The person who sins will die.
5“There may be a good person. This person 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 commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. He does not have physical relations with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding. 7He does not mistreat anyone. But he returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to hungry people. He gives clothes to those who have no clothes. 8He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between men. 9He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. The person who does all these things is good. He will surely live, says the Lord God.
10“But this person might have a wild son who murders people. This son may do any of these other bad things. 11(But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife. 12He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals things. He 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 hated things. He will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own sins.
14“But this son might have a son who has seen the sins his father did. But after seeing them, he 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 commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. 16He does not mistreat anyone. He does not keep something promised for a loan. He does not steal. But he gives bread to the hungry people. He gives clothes to people without clothes. 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. He robbed his brother. He 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. 20It is the person who sins that will die. The son will not be punished for the father’s sin. The father will not be punished for the son’s sin. The person who does right is responsible for his own goodness. The evil person is responsible for his own evil.
21“But the evil person might stop doing all the sins he has done. And he might obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then he will surely live. He will not die. 22His sins will be forgotten. Now he does what is right. So he will live. 23I do not really want the evil person to die, says the Lord God. I want him to stop his bad ways and live.
24“But a person who does right might stop doing good and do wrong. And he might do the same hated things an evil person does. Will he live? All his good acts will be forgotten. This is because he became unfaithful. He has sinned. So he will die because of his sins.
25“But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Hear now, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair! 26A good person might stop doing good. He might do wrong and die because of it. He will die because he did wrong. 27An evil person might stop doing the evil things he has done. And he might do what is fair and right. He will save his life. 28He thought about it and stopped doing all the sins he had done. He will surely live. He 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 person by what he does, says the Lord God. Change your hearts. Stop all your sinning. Then 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 to think. Why do you want to die, people of Israel? 32I do not want anyone to die. So change your hearts and lives so you may live.
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