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Ezekiel 18:1-32 — Individual Responsibility

Ezek.18.1-32

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²What do you mean by repeating this proverb in the land of Israel: 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? ³As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer repeat this proverb in Israel. ⁴Look, every person belongs to me. The father and the son alike belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die. ⁵If a man is righteous and does what is just and right: ⁶He has not eaten at the mountain shrines or lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He has not defiled his neighbor's wife or approached a woman during her menstrual impurity. ⁷He does not oppress anyone, but restores what was taken in pledge for a debt. He does not rob, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. ⁸He does not lend at interest or take interest. He keeps his hand from wrongdoing and judges truly between one person and another. ⁹He walks in my statutes and keeps my rules, acting faithfully. He is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁰But if he fathers a violent son, one who sheds blood and does any of these things, ¹¹though the father did none of them, yet the son has eaten at the mountain shrines and defiled his neighbor's wife. ¹²He has oppressed the poor and needy, committed robbery, not restored a pledge, lifted his eyes to idols, and done abominable things. ¹³He has lent at interest and taken interest. Shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He will surely die; his blood will be on him. ¹⁴But suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise. ¹⁵He has not eaten at the mountain shrines or lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He has not defiled his neighbor's wife. ¹⁶He has not oppressed anyone, taken a pledge, or committed robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing. ¹⁷He withholds his hand from harming the poor and does not take interest . He keeps my rules and walks in my statutes. He will not die for his father's iniquity; he will surely live. ¹⁸As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, he will die for his own iniquity. ¹⁹Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the iniquity of the father?' Since the son has done what is just and right, has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he will surely live. ²⁰The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of the father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon him. ²¹But if the wicked turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all my statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. ²²None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live. ²³Do I really take pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his ways and live? ²⁴But when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, doing all the abominations that the wicked do, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he has committed and the sin he has done, he will die. ²⁵Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? ²⁶When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong and dies because of it, he will die for the wrong he has done. ²⁷Again, when a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. ²⁸Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Are my ways not fair, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair? ³⁰Therefore I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD. Turn back and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become your stumbling block. ³¹Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions by which you have rebelled, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD. So turn back and live.

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4/11/2026

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