Ezekiel 18:1–20

God Deals Justly with Individuals

¹Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²“^aWhat do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,

‘^bThe fathers eat the sour grapes,

But the children’s teeth ¹are set on edge’?

³“As I live,” declares the Lord ¹God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.

⁴“Behold, ^aall ¹souls are Mine; the ²soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The ³soul who ^bsins will die.

⁵“But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,

⁶and does not ^aeat at the mountain shrines or ^blift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or ^cdefile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period—

⁷if a man does not oppress anyone, but ^arestores to the debtor his pledge, ^bdoes not commit robbery, but ^cgives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

⁸if he does not lend money on ^ainterest or take ^bincrease, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and ^cexecutes true justice between man and man,

⁹if he walks in ^aMy statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—^bhe is righteous and will surely ^clive,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁰“Then he may ¹have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother

¹¹(though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and ^adefiles his neighbor’s wife,

¹²oppresses the ^apoor and needy, ^bcommits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and ^ccommits abomination,

¹³he ^alends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his ^bblood will be ¹on his own head.

¹⁴“Now behold, he ¹has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and ^aobserving does not do likewise.

¹⁵“He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife,

¹⁶or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he ^agives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

¹⁷he keeps his hand from ¹the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; ^ahe will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live.

¹⁸“As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘^aWhy should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced ^bjustice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live.

²⁰“The person who ^asins will die. The ^bson will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the ^crighteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.