Ezekiel 18

God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked

1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
2 "{What do you mean by} quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, {saying}, 'The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.'
3 {As I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be {appropriate for you} to quote this proverb in Israel!
4 Look! {All lives are mine}. {The lives of father and son alike are mine}. The person sinning will die.
5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness,
6 and 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 menstruation,
7 and he oppresses {no one} [and] he returns [a] pledge for his loan {and he commits no robbery} [and] he gives his bread to [the] hungry and he covers a naked person [with] a garment,
8 [and] {he does not charge interest} and he takes no usury, [and] he holds back his hand from injustice [and] he executes [a] judgment of fairness between {persons},
9 [and] in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps, {performing faithfully} --[then] he is righteous, [and] certainly he will live," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
10 "And [now] he has a son, a violent one, {who sheds blood} {and does any of these things}
11 (though he did not do all of these [things]), for [the son] also eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor.
12 He oppresses [the] needy and [the] poor, [and] {he commits robbery}, [and] he [does] not return [a] pledge for a loan, [and] he lifts his eyes to the idols [so] he does a detestable thing.
13 {He charges interest} 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.
15 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.
16 And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and {he does not commit robbery}; he gives his bread to [the] hungry, and he covers the naked person [with] a garment.
17 He brings back his hand from iniquity; he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live!
18 Because his father {oppressed severely}; {he stole from his brother}; [that] which [is] not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through his guilt.
19 "Yet 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!
20 The person, 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 shall be on him.
21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sins 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!
22 All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against him. Through his righteousness that he has done he shall live.
23 Have I delight by any means [in the] death of [the] wicked, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, [and] not at his turning from his way, {so that} he lives?
24 And {when the righteous turns} from his righteousness, so that he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then will he live [because of] all of his righteousness that he did? [Those things] will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his {sin that he committed}. Through them he shall die.
25 "Yet 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?
26 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die!
27 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, {he will preserve his life}.
28 And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die!
29 And [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?}
30 "Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you.
31 Throw {away from yourselves} all of your transgressions that you committed, and make {for yourselves} a new heart and new spirit, and [so] why will you die, house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "And [so] repent and live!"

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Footnotes 62

Ezekiel 18 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.