Individual Responsibility and the Call to Repentance
Ezekiel 18:1-32
1The word of the LORD came to me, saying,2What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'Fathers eat unripe grapes, and the teeth of the sons are set on edge'?3As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no longer be used in Israel.4Behold, all souls belong to me; the soul of the father and the soul of the son alike belong to me; the soul who sins shall die.5If a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,6he does not eat upon the mountains or lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her impurity;7he does not oppress anyone, restores a pledge to the debtor, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with clothing;8he does not lend at interest or take profit, turns his hand from injustice, and executes true justice between one person and another;9he walks in my statutes and keeps my rules by doing what is faithful; that man is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD.10If he fathers a violent son who sheds blood and does any one of these things to a brother,11and does not do all these things, but instead eats upon the mountains and defiles his neighbor's wife,12oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not return a pledge, lifts his eyes to idols, and practices abomination,13lends at interest and takes profit, he shall not live; because he has done all these abominations, he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.14Now suppose he fathers a son who sees all the sins his father committed; he sees them and does not do likewise.15He does not eat upon the mountains or lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he does not defile his neighbor's wife;16he does not oppress anyone, does not take a pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with clothing;17he withholds his hand from the afflicted, does not take interest or profit, keeps my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live.18His father, because he practiced extortion, committed robbery, and did what was not good among his people, died for his own iniquity.19Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done what is just and right and has kept all my statutes and carried them out, he shall surely live.20The soul who sins shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall 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 shall surely live; he shall not die.22None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; because of the righteousness he has practiced, he shall live.23Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD? Rather, is it not that he turns from his ways and lives?24But when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits injustice by doing any of the abominations the wicked practice, shall he live? None of the righteous acts he has done will be remembered; because of the treachery he has committed and the sin he has sinned, he shall die.25Yet you say, 'The way of the LORD is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it my ways that are not just? Are not your ways the ones that are not just?26When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, he shall die for it; because of the injustice he has done, he shall die.27And when a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall preserve his own life.28Because he has seen and turned back from all the transgressions he has done, he shall surely live; he shall not die.29Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the LORD is not just.' Are my ways not just, O house of Israel? Are not your ways the ones that are not just?30Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Turn and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not become a stumbling block for you.31Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?32For I do not take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord GOD. Therefore turn and live.