Berean Standard Bible

Ezekiel 18:10-24

10Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things, 11though the father has done none of them:

Indeed, the son eats at the mountainand defiles his neighbor’s wife.12He oppresses the poor and needy;he commits robberyand does not restore a pledge.He lifts his eyes to idols;he commits abominations.13He engages in usuryand takes excess interest.

Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

14Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

15He does not eat at the mountainor look to the idols of the house of Israel.He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.16He does not oppress another,or retain a pledge, or commit robbery.He gives his bread to the hungryand covers the naked with clothing.17He withholds his hand from harming the poor1and takes no interest or usury.He keeps My ordinancesand follows My statutes.

Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

18As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

19Yet you may ask, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of his father?’

Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will surely live.

20The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

21But if the wicked man 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 held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live. 23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

24But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

Read all of Ezekiel 18

Notes

1. Ezekiel 18:17 Hebrew; LXX He withholds his hand from iniquity ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ezekiel 18