Berean Standard Bible

Ezekiel 18:2-20

2“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?

3As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

5Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:

6He does not eat at the mountainor look to the idols of the house of Israel.He does not defile his neighbor’s wifeor approach a woman during her period.7He does not oppress another,but restores the pledge to the debtor.He does not commit robbery,but gives his bread to the hungryand covers the naked with clothing.8He does not engage in usuryor take excess interest,but he withholds his hand from iniquityand executes true justice between men.9He follows My statutesand faithfully keeps My ordinances.That man is righteous;surely he will live,declares the Lord GOD.

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.

Read all of Ezekiel 18

Notes

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

Notes

Commentaries on Ezekiel 18