1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the sons' teeth are set on edge'?
3 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore.
4 All souls belong to me; the soul of the father and the soul of the son alike belong to me. The soul that sins is the one that will die.
5 "Suppose a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness.
6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her impurity;
7 he wrongs no one, but returns what was pledged for a debt; he does not rob; he gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked;
8 he does not lend at interest or take a profit; he keeps his hand from wrongdoing and judges truly between one man and another;
9 he walks in my statutes and keeps my judgments, acting faithfully. Such a man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Lord GOD.
10 "But suppose he has a son who is violent, who sheds blood and does any of these things
11 (though the father did none of them): he eats at the mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor's wife,
12 wrongs the poor and needy, robs, does not return a pledge, lifts his eyes to the idols, commits abomination,
13 lends at interest and takes a profit. Will he live? He will not live. He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on him.
14 "But suppose this man has a son who sees all the sins his father has done; he sees, and does not do the like.
15 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he does not defile his neighbor's wife;
16 he wrongs no one, takes no pledge, and does not rob, but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked;
17 he keeps his hand from harming the poor, takes no interest or profit, carries out my judgments and walks in my statutes. He will not die for his father's iniquity; he will surely live.
18 His father, because he extorted, robbed his brother and did what is not good among his people, will die for his own iniquity.
19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not bear the iniquity of the father?' Because the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all my statutes and carried them out, he will surely live.
20 The soul that sins is the one that will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will a father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will be charged to him.
21 "But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all my statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he will surely live; he will not die.
22 None of the transgressions he committed will be remembered against him; because of the righteousness he has practiced he will live.
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD? Is it not rather that he turn from his ways and live?
24 But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, doing all the abominations that the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness he has shown and the sin he has committed, because of these he will die.
25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Listen, house of Israel: is it my way that is not fair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?
26 When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, he dies because of it; for the wrong he has done he dies.
27 And when a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he keeps his soul alive.
28 Because he took notice and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.
29 Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Are my ways not fair, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unfair?
30 "So I will judge each of you by his ways, house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not become a stumbling block for you.
31 Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel?
32 For I take no pleasure in the death of the one who dies, declares the Lord GOD. So turn back, and live!"