Ezekiel 18:1–20

¹And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ²What mean ye, ye who use this proverb of the land of Israel, saying, The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? ³As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have any more to use this proverb in Israel. ⁴Behold, all the souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. ⁵And if a man be righteous, and do judgment and justice: ⁶—he hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor come near to a woman in her separation, ⁷and hath not oppressed any; he hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath not exercised robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment; ⁸he hath not given forth upon usury, nor taken increase; he hath withdrawn his hand from unrighteousness, hath executed true judgment between man and man, ⁹hath walked in my statutes, and kept mine ordinances, to deal faithfully: he is righteous, he shall certainly live, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁰And if he have begotten a son that is violent, a shedder of blood, and that doeth only one of any of these things, ¹¹and that doeth not any of those duties, but also hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife, ¹²hath oppressed the poor and needy, exercised robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, committed abomination, ¹³given forth upon usury, and taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall certainly die; his blood shall be upon him. ¹⁴But lo, if he have begotten a son that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like: ¹⁵—he hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife, ¹⁶and hath not oppressed any, nor withholden the pledge, neither hath exercised robbery; he hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment; ¹⁷he hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, and walked in my statutes: he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall certainly live. ¹⁸As for his father, because he practised oppression, exercised robbery upon his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity. ¹⁹And ye say, Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? But the son hath done judgment and justice, hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them; he shall certainly live. ²⁰The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.