Yechezkel 33:15

15 If the rashah give back the chavol (borrower’s pledge), give back what he has stolen, walk in the chukkot hachayyim, without committing evil; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Yechezkel 33:15 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:15

If the wicked restore the pledge
His neighbour's raiment, which he has taken as a pledge for money lent him; and which, according to the law, was to be restored before sunset, ( Exodus 22:26 Exodus 22:27 ) which wicked men did not attend unto; but when such a man is brought to a sense of his wickedness, and repentance for it, as an evidence of it he would restore the pledge: and give again that he had robbed;
to him whom he had robbed; as a thief was obliged to do, four or five fold, according to the law, ( Exodus 22:1 ) , and which, when a man did voluntarily, from the convictions of his own mind, and not by force of the civil magistrate, it was a sign of true repentance; see ( Luke 19:8 ) : and walk in the statutes of life;
the rule of life and conversation, and to the keeping of which the promise of long life is annexed; and which preserve persons from dying a shameful death by the hand of the civil magistrate; statutes, which, if a man do, he shall live in them; see ( Ezekiel 20:11 ) : without committing iniquity;
not living entirely without sin, which the best of men do not; but without committing grosser sins, as before; and without making a trade of sinning, and living in it: he shall surely live, he shall not die;
he shall live comfortably now, and happily hereafter; he shall live a spiritual life, and not die the second death.

Yechezkel 33:15 In-Context

13 When I shall say to the tzaddik, that he shall surely live, if he trust in his own tzedakah, and commit evil, all his tzidkot (righteousnesses) shall not be remembered; but for his evil that he hath committed, he shall die in it.
14 Again, when I say unto the rashah, Thou shalt surely die and he turn from his chattat, and do that which is mishpat and tzedakah;
15 If the rashah give back the chavol (borrower’s pledge), give back what he has stolen, walk in the chukkot hachayyim, without committing evil; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his chattot that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is mishpat and tzedakah; he shall surely live.
17 Yet the Bnei Amecha say, The Derech Adonoi is not proper; but as for them, their derech is not proper.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.