Atlas Biblica

    Ezekiel · 32 verses

    Ezekiel 18

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    A wicked man may turn, and the past is no longer held against him; a righteous man may turn, and the past is no longer remembered. Ezekiel’s chapter gives each man his own account book, then cheerfully sets fire to the filing system.

    The sour-grapes proverb is dismissedvv. 1–4

    The LORD gives Ezekiel a proverb from the land of Israel: fathers eat sour grapes, while their children’s teeth suffer the consequences. It is a neat little household saying, but the LORD will have it retired. Every soul belongs to him, and the soul who sins is the one who will die.

    Three generations, three accountsvv. 5–20

    The LORD then lays out a family arrangement with no inherited moral luggage. A righteous man deals justly, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, refuses idols, robbery, and excessive interest, and lives. His violent son does the opposite and dies for his own abominations. Then the son’s son sees all this, considers it, and declines to imitate it; he lives, while his father dies for his own iniquity. The proverb has been replaced by a remarkably tidy set of separate ledgers.

    The ledger can change directionvv. 21–32

    Then the chapter performs its most startling turn. A wicked man who turns from his sins and does what is just and right will live, with none of his transgressions held against him. But a righteous man who turns to iniquity will die, and his earlier righteousness will not be remembered. Israel objects that the LORD’s way is not just; the LORD replies that Israel’s ways are the unjust ones, and ends by asking why anyone should die when a new heart and spirit may be fashioned.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Ezek 18:1Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

    2. Ezek 18:2“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’?

    3. Ezek 18:3As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

    4. Ezek 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

    5. Ezek 18:5Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:

    6. Ezek 18:6He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her period.

    7. Ezek 18:7He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    8. Ezek 18:8He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.

    9. Ezek 18:9He follows My statutes and faithfully keeps My ordinances. That man is righteous; surely he will live, declares the Lord GOD.

    10. Ezek 18:10Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things,

    11. Ezek 18:11though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.

    12. Ezek 18:12He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.

    13. Ezek 18:13He engages in usury and 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.

    14. Ezek 18:14Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

    15. Ezek 18:15He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

    16. Ezek 18:16He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    17. Ezek 18:17He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

    18. Ezek 18:18As 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.

    19. Ezek 18:19Yet 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.

    20. Ezek 18:20The 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.

    21. Ezek 18:21But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

    22. Ezek 18:22None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live.

    23. Ezek 18:23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

    24. Ezek 18:24But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

    25. Ezek 18:25Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

    26. Ezek 18:26If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

    27. Ezek 18:27But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

    28. Ezek 18:28Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

    29. Ezek 18:29Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

    30. Ezek 18:30Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.

    31. Ezek 18:31Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

    32. Ezek 18:32For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!’’

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 547 passages were voted onto 30 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 202 Kings 14:6Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”
    • 20Deuteronomy 24:16Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
    • 20Ezekiel 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
    • 322 Peter 3:9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
    • 4Ezekiel 18:20The 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.
    • 32Ezekiel 18:23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
    • 20Jeremiah 31:29–30“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
    • 32Ezekiel 33:11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
    • 4Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    • 202 Chronicles 25:4Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”
    • 20Matthew 16:27For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
    • 201 Kings 8:32then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
    • 20Romans 2:6–9God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
    • 31Psalms 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
    • 202 Chronicles 6:23then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
    • 30Ezekiel 18:21But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

    Onward

    Keep reading

    Next chapterEzekiel 1914 verses.Named hereIsraelEverything the graph connects to this name.BookEzekielAll 48 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.