Ezekiel 18:1–22:22
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.
19 “Yeti 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,j 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 wickedk shall be on him. 21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sinsl 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 againstm him. Throughn his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I delight by any meanso in the death of the wicked, ⌊declares⌋p the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, ⌊so that⌋q he lives? 24 And ⌊when the righteous turns⌋r from his righteousness, so thats he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, thent will he live because of all of his righteousnessu that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his ⌊sin that he committed⌋.v Throughw them he shall die.
25 “Yetx 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, theny 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⌋.z 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?⌋a
30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each oneb according to his ways,” ⌊declares⌋c the Lord Yahweh. “Repentd 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⌋e all of your transgressions that you committed,f and make ⌊for yourselves⌋g 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⌋h the Lord Yahweh. “And so repenti and live!”
Lament for the Leaders of Israel
19 “And you, raise a lament abouta the leaders of Israel, 2 and you must say,
‘What a lioness was your mother
among the lions.
She lay down in the midst of young lions,
and she reared her lion cubs.
3 And she raised up one from her cubs;
he became a fierce lion,
and he learned to tear prey;
4 And nations heard about him;
in their pit he was caught,
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 And she sawd that she was waiting in vain;
her hope was destroyed,
and she took one from her cubs,
and she made him a fierce lion.
6 And he walked about in the midst of lions;
he became a fierce lion,
and he learned to tear prey;
7 And he knew their widows,g
and he devastated their cities,
and the land was appalled, and ⌊everyone in it⌋h
at the sound of his roar.
8 And nations set out against him
⌊from the surrounding provinces⌋,i
and they spread their net over him,
and he was caught in their pit.
9 And they put him in a collar with hooks,
and they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him intoj a prison,
so that his voice would not be heard ⌊any longer⌋k
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like the vine in your vineyard;l
planted ⌊fruitfully⌋m beside water,
and it was full of branches
from many waters.n
11 And ⌊she produced branches of strength⌋o
top scepters of rulers;
its height became tall
betweenq thick foliage,
and it was seenr because of its tallness
among the abundance of its branches.
12 But it was uprooted in rage;
it was thrown to the earth,
and the east wind dried up its fruit;
they were stripped off,
and its strong branch dried up;
fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the desert,
in a ⌊dry and thirsty land⌋.s
14 And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches;
its fruit it has consumed,
and there was not in it ⌊a strong branch⌋,t
a scepter for ruling.’ ”
This is a lament, and ⌊it will be used as a lament⌋.u
God’s Dealings with Israel for His Name’s Sake
20 And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat ⌊before me⌋.a 2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,b 3 “Son of man,c speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Are you coming to consult me? ⌊As I live⌋,d I will surely not allow myselfe to be consulted by you!” ’ ⌊declares⌋f the Lord Yahweh. 4 Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man?g Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors.h 5 And you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of my choosing Israel ⌊I swore⌋i to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and ⌊I swore⌋j to them, ⌊saying⌋,k ‘I am Yahweh your God.’ 6 On that day ⌊I swore⌋l to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. 7 Then I said to them, ‘Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one ⌊did not throw away⌋m the detestable things of their eyes; and ⌊they did not abandon⌋n the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 “Buto I acted for the sake of my name ⌊to keep it from being profaned⌋p before the eyes of the nations ⌊among whom they lived⌋,q where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. 10 And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, 11 and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. 12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them ⌊so they would know⌋r that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them.
13 “Buts in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; ⌊they did not walk in my statutes⌋,t and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, 14 and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations ⌊before whom I brought them out⌋.u 15 And also ⌊I myself swore⌋v to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands— 16 because they despised my judgments, and ⌊they did not walk in my statutes⌋,w and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was …