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Individual Retribution

¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² "What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,

³ "As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! ⁴ Indeed! All lives are mine—the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die.

⁵ "Suppose a man is righteous. He practices what is just and right, ⁶ does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains or pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, does not have sexual relations with a woman during her period, ⁷ does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, ⁸ does not engage in usury or charge interest, but refrains from wrongdoing, promotes true justice between men, ⁹ and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. That man is righteous; he will certainly live, declares the sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ "Suppose such a man has a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things mentioned previously ¹¹ (though the father did not do any of them). He eats pagan sacrifices on the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and the needy, commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to idols, performs abominable acts, ¹³ engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. He will bear the responsibility for his own death.

¹⁴ "But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father's example. ¹⁵ He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, ¹⁶ does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked, ¹⁷ refrains from wrongdoing, does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father's iniquity; he will surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practices extortion, robs his brother, and does what is not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ "Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer for his father's iniquity?' When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer for his father's iniquity, and a father will not suffer for his son's iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness.

²¹ "But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. ²² None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

²⁴ "But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

²⁵ "Yet you say, ‘The Lord's conduct is unjust!' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? ²⁶ When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. ²⁷ When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord's conduct is unjust!' Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

³⁰ "Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ³¹ Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!