Ezekiel 18

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

2 “What [is it] to you [that] you are using this allegory Concerning the ground of Israel, saying, Fathers eat unripe fruit, And the sons’ teeth are blunted?

“What do you mean, you who use this proverb concerning the land of Israel and say, 'Fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are made blunt'?

3 [As] I live,” a declaration of Lord YHWH, “You no longer have the use of this allegory in Israel.

As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—there will certainly no longer be any occasion for you to use this proverb in Israel.

4 Behold, all the souls are Mine, As the soul of the father, So also the soul of the son—they are Mine, The soul that is sinning—it dies.

Behold! Every life belong to me—the life of the father as well as the life of the son, they belong to me! The soul who sins is the one who will die!

5 And a man, when he is righteous, And has done judgment and righteousness,

What can be said about a man who is righteous and who carries out justice and righteousness—

6 He has not eaten on the mountains, And has not lifted up his eyes To idols of the house of Israel, And did not defile his neighbor’s wife, And did not come near to a separated woman,

if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor's wife, nor approached a woman during her monthly period, is he a righteous man?

7 He does not oppress a man, He returns his pledge to the debtor, He does not take away plunder, He gives his bread to the hungry, And covers the naked with a garment,

What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man?

8 He does not give in usury, and does not take increase, He turns back his hand from perversity, He does true judgment between man and man.

What can be said about a man who does not charge too much interest for the money he loans, and he does not take too much profit for what he sells? It is said of him that he carries out justice and establishes faithfulness between people.

9 He walks in My statutes, And he has kept My judgments—to deal truly, He [is] righteous—he surely lives,” A declaration of Lord YHWH.

If that man walks in my statutes and keeps my decrees to act faithfully, then the promise for this righteous man is this: He will surely live!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

10 “And he has begotten a son, A burglar—a shedder of blood, And he has made a brother of one of these,

But suppose that he has a violent son who sheds blood and does any one of these things that were mentioned,

11 And he has not done all those, For he has even eaten on the mountains, And he has defiled his neighbor’s wife,

(though his father has not done any of these things). He eats upon the mountains and he defiles his neighbor's wife, what can be said about him?

12 He has oppressed the afflicted and needy, He has taken away plunder violently, He does not return a pledge, And he has lifted up his eyes to the idols, He has done abomination!

This man oppresses the poor and needy, and he seizes and robs, and he does not return a pledge, and he lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits disgusting actions,

13 He has given in usury, and taken increase, And he lives? He does not live, He has done all these abominations, He surely dies, his blood is on him.

and he lends out money at too high interest and he makes too much profit on what he sells, should that man live? Surely he will not! He will certainly die and his blood will be on him because he has done all these detestable things.

14 And—behold, he has begotten a son, And he sees all the sins of his father, That he has done, and he fears, And does not do like them,

But behold! Suppose there is a man who bears a son, and his son sees all the sins that his father has committed, and though he sees them, he does not do those things.

15 He has not eaten on the mountains, And he has not lifted up his eyes To idols of the house of Israel, He has not defiled his neighbor’s wife,

That son does not eat upon the mountains, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor's wife, what can be said about him?

16 He has not oppressed a man, He has not bound a pledge, And he has not taken away plunder, He has given his bread to the hungry, And he covered the naked with a garment,

That son does not oppress anyone, or seize a pledge, or take stolen things, but instead gives his food to the hungry and covers up the naked with clothes.

17 He has turned back his hand from the afflicted, He has not taken usury and increase, He has done My judgments, He has walked in My statutes, He does not die for the iniquity of his father, He surely lives.

That son does not oppress anyone or take interest that is too high or make too much profit for a loan, but he carries out my decrees and walks according to my statutes; that son will not die for his father's sin: He will surely live!

18 His father—because he used oppression, Violently plundered a brother, And did that which [is] not good in the midst of his people, And behold, he is dying in his iniquity.

His father, since he oppressed others by extortion and robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people—behold, he will die in his iniquity.

19 And you have said, Why has the son not borne of the iniquity of the father? And the son has done judgment and righteousness, He has kept all My statutes, And he does them, he surely lives.

But you say, 'Why does the son not bear the iniquity of his father?' Because the son carries out justice and righteousness and keeps all my statutes; he does them. He will surely live!

20 The soul that sins—it dies. A son does not bear of the iniquity of the father, And a father does not bear of the iniquity of the son, The righteousness of the righteous is on him, And the wickedness of the wicked is on him.

The one who sins, he is the one who will die. A son will not bear his father's iniquity, and a father will not bear his son's iniquity. The righteousness of the one who acts rightly will be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on himself.

21 And the wicked—when he turns back From all his sins that he has done, And he has kept all My statutes, And has done judgment and righteousness, He surely lives, he does not die.

But if the wicked turns away from all his sins that he has done, and keeps all my statutes and performs justice and righteousness, then he will certainly live and not die.

22 All his transgressions that he has done Are not remembered to him, In his righteousness that he has done he lives.

All the transgressions that he has committed will not be called to mind against him. He will live by the righteousness that he practices.

23 Do I take pleasure [or] delight in the death of the wicked?” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “Is it not in his turning back from his way—And he has lived?

Do I greatly rejoice over the death of the wicked—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—and not in his turning away from his way so that he may live?

24 And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he has done perversity, According to all the abominations That the wicked has done, Does he then live? All his righteous deeds that he has done are not remembered, For his trespass that he has trespassed, And for his sin that he has sinned, For them he dies.

But if the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and practices abominations like all the abominations that the wicked person does, then will he live? All the righteousness that he had done will not be called to mind when he betrays me in his treason. So he will die in the sins that he committed.

25 And you have said, The way of the Lord is not pondered. Now hear, O house of Israel, My way—is it not pondered? Are not your ways unpondered?

But you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' Listen, house of Israel! Are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

26 In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he has done perversity, And he is dying by them, He dies for his perversity that he has done.

When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity and dies because of them, then he will die in the iniquity that he has done.

27 And in the turning back of the wicked From his wickedness that he has done, And he does judgment and righteousness, He keeps his soul alive.

But when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has done and performs justice and righteousness, then he will preserve his life.

28 And he sees and turns back, From all his transgressions that he has done, He surely lives, he does not die,

For he has seen and turned away from all the transgressions that he had done. He will surely live, and he will not die.

29 And the house of Israel has said, The way of the Lord is not pondered, My ways—are they not pondered? O house of Israel—are not your ways unpondered?

But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' How is my way not fair, house of Israel? It is your ways that are not fair.

30 Therefore, I judge each according to his ways, O house of Israel,” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “Turn back, indeed, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not for a stumbling-block to you,

Therefore I will judge each man among you according to his ways, house of Israel!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions so that they will not be stumbling blocks of iniquity against you.

31 Cast away all your transgressions from over you, By which you have transgressed, And make a new heart and a new spirit for yourselves, And why do you die, O house of Israel?

Throw away from yourselves all of the transgressions that you have committed; make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel?

32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “Therefore turn back and live!”

For I have no delight in the death of the one who dies—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—so repent and live!”