Ezekiel 18:1–18

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

18 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “⌊What do you mean by⌋b quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, ⌊saying⌋,c ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’d 3 ⌊As I live⌋,e ⌊declares⌋f the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be ⌊appropriate for you⌋g to quote this proverb in Israel! 4 Look! ⌊All lives are mine⌋.h ⌊The lives of father and son alike are mine⌋.i The personj 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 ofk menstruation, 7 and he oppresses ⌊no one⌋l and he returns a pledge for his loan ⌊and he commits no robbery⌋m and he givesn his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8 and ⌊he does not charge interest⌋o and he takes no usury, and he holds backp his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between ⌊persons⌋,q 9 and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,r ⌊performing faithfully⌋s —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” ⌊declares⌋t the Lord Yahweh.

10 “And now he has a son, a violent one, ⌊who sheds blood⌋u ⌊and does any of these things⌋v 11 (thoughw hex did not do all of these things), for the son alsoy eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12 He oppresses the needy and the poor, and ⌊he commits robbery⌋,z 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⌋a 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⌋;b he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17 He brings backc his hand from iniquity;d he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goese in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18 Because his father ⌊oppressed severely⌋;f ⌊he stole from his brother⌋;g that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die throughh his guilt.

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a	Literally “to say”
b	Literally “What is to you”
c	Literally “to say”
d	Or “dull,” set on edge”
e	Literally “life I”
f	Literally “declaration of”
g	Literally “to you”
h	Literally “all of the lives are for me they”
i	Literally “Like the life of the father and like the life of the son is to me look”
j	Or “life,” or “soul”
k	Or “in”
l	Literally “a person not”
m	Literally “robbed things not he seized”
n	Or “shares”
o	Literally “with the interest not he gives”
p	Or “brings back”
q	Literally “man and man”
r	Or “watches”
s	Literally “to do with with faithfulness”
t	Literally “declaration of”
u	Literally “shedding of blood”
v	Literally “and he does like from one from these”
w	Hebrew “And”
x	That is, the father
y	Or “even”
z	Literally “robbed things he seized”
a	Literally “with the interest he gives”
b	Literally “robbed things not does he seize”
c	Or “holds back”
d	Cf. verse 8
e	Or “walks”
f	Literally “he oppressed oppression”
g	Literally “he seized robbed things of a brother”
h	Or “in”