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The Soul Who Sins Will Die

¹ Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,² "^(C1)What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,

'^(C2)The fathers eat the sour grapes,
But the children's teeth ^(F1)are set on edge'?

⁵ "But if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness,⁶ and does not ^(C1)eat at the mountain shrines or ^(C2)lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or ^(C3)defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period—⁷ if a man does not mistreat anyone, but ^(C1)returns to the debtor his pledge, ^(C2)does not commit robbery, but ^(C3)gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,⁸ if he does not lend money on ^(C1)interest or take ^(C2)increase, if he turns his hand from injustice and ^(C3)does true justice between man and man,⁹ if he walks in ^(C1)My statutes and My judgments and is careful to do the truth—^(C2)he is righteous and will surely ^(C3)live," declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰ "Then he may ^(F1)have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother¹¹ (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines and ^(C1)defiles his neighbor's wife;¹² he mistreats the ^(C1)afflicted and needy, ^(C2)commits robbery, does not return a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and ^(C3)does abominations;¹³ he ^(C1)lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his ^(C2)blood will be on himself.

¹⁴ "Now behold, he ^(F1)has a son who has seen all his father's sins which he has done. And he ^(C1)saw this but does not do likewise.¹⁵ "He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife¹⁶ or mistreat anyone, or retain a pledge or commit robbery, but he ^(C1)gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing;¹⁷ he turns his hand away from ^(F1)the afflicted, does not take interest or increase, but does My judgments and walks in My statutes; ^(C1)he will not die for his father's iniquity; he will surely live.¹⁸ "As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ "Yet you say, '^(C1)Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity?' But the son has done ^(C2)justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them. He shall surely live.²⁰ "The soul who ^(C1)sins will die. The ^(C2)son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son; the ^(C3)righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹ "But if the ^(C1)wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.²² "^(C1)All his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him; because of his ^(C2)righteousness which he has done, he will live.²³ "^(C1)Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares Lord Yahweh, "is it not that he should ^(C2)turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ "But when a righteous man ^(C1)turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? ^(C2)All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his ^(C3)unfaithfulness which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.²⁵ "Yet you say, '^(C1)The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is ^(C2)My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?²⁶ "When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has done he will die.²⁷ "Again, when a wicked man turns away ^(C1)from his wickedness which he has done and does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.²⁸ "Again, he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had done; he shall surely live; he shall not die.²⁹ "But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰ "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his way," declares Lord Yahweh. "^(F1)(C1)Turn back and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.³¹ "^(C1)Cast away from yourselves all your transgressions which you have committed and ^(F1)make yourselves a ^(C2)new heart and a new spirit! Now why will you die, O house of Israel?³² "For I have ^(C1)no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares Lord Yahweh. "Therefore, ^(F1)turn back and live."