Ezekiel 18:1–20

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.^a15He 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.