Old/New Testament

18 Then the Lord’s message came to me again.

² “Why do people use this proverb about the land of Israel: The children are punished for their fathers’ sins?^{[a] 3} As I live,” says the Lord God, “you will not use this proverb anymore in Israel, ⁴ for all souls are mine to judge—fathers and sons alike—and my rule is this: It is for a man’s own sins that he will die.

⁵ “But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right, ⁶ and has not gone out to the mountains to feast before the idols of Israel and worship them, and does not commit adultery nor lie with any woman during the time of her menstruation; ⁷ if he is a merciful creditor, not holding onto the items given to him in pledge by poor debtors, and is no robber but gives food to the hungry and clothes to those in need; ⁸ and if he grants loans without interest,^[b] stays away from sin, is honest and fair when judging others, ⁹ and obeys my laws—that man is just,” says the Lord, “and he shall surely live.

¹⁰ “But if that man has a son who is a robber or murderer and who fulfills none of his responsibilities, ¹¹ who refuses to obey the laws of God but worships idols on the mountains and commits adultery, ¹² oppresses the poor and helpless, robs his debtors by refusing to let them redeem what they have given him in pledge, loves idols and worships them, ¹³ and loans out his money at interest^[c]—shall that man live? No! He shall surely die, and it is his own fault.

¹⁴ “But if this sinful man has, in turn, a son who sees all his father’s wickedness, so that he fears God and decides against that kind of life; ¹⁵ he doesn’t go up on the mountains to feast before the idols and worship them and does not commit adultery; ¹⁶ he is fair to those who borrow from him and doesn’t rob them, but feeds the hungry, clothes the needy, ¹⁷ helps the poor, does not loan money at interest, and obeys my laws—he shall not die because of his father’s sins; he shall surely live. ¹⁸ But his father shall die for his own sins because he is cruel and robs and does wrong.

¹⁹ “‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the son pay for his father’s sins?’ No! For if the son does what is right and keeps my laws, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The one who sins is the one who dies. The son shall not be punished for his father’s sins, nor the father for his son’s. The righteous person will be rewarded for his own goodness and the wicked person for his wickedness. ²¹ But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins and begins to obey my laws and do what is just and right, he shall surely live and not die. ²² All his past sins will be forgotten, and he shall live because of his goodness.

²³ “Do you think I like to see the wicked die?” asks the Lord. “Of course not! I only want him to turn from his wicked ways and live. ²⁴ However, if a righteous person turns to sinning and acts like any other sinner, should he be allowed to live? No, of course not. All his previous goodness will be forgotten and he shall die for his sins.

²⁵ “Yet you say: ‘The Lord isn’t being fair!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one who is unfair, or is it you? ²⁶ When a good man turns away from being good, begins sinning, and dies in his sins, he dies for the evil he has done. ²⁷ And if a wicked person turns away from his wickedness and obeys the law and does right, he shall save his soul, ²⁸ for he has thought it over and decided to turn from his sins and live a good life. He shall surely live—he shall not die.

²⁹ “And yet the people of Israel keep saying: ‘The Lord is unfair!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are unfair, not I. ³⁰ I will judge each of you, O Israel, and punish or reward each according to his own actions. Oh, turn from your sins while there is yet time. ³¹ Put them behind you and receive a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O Israel? ³² I do not enjoy seeing you die,” the Lord God says. “Turn, turn and live!

19 “Sing this death dirge for the leaders of Israel: ² What a woman your mother was—like a lioness! Her children were like lion’s cubs! ³ One of her cubs, King Jehoahaz,^[d] grew into a strong young lion and learned to catch prey and became a man-eater. ⁴ Then the nations called out their hunters; they trapped him in a pit and brought him in chains to Egypt.

⁵ “When Israel, the mother lion, saw that all her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs, King Jehoiachin,^[e] and taught him to be ‘king of the beasts.’ ⁶ He became a leader among the lions and learned to catch prey, and he too became a man-eater. ⁷ He demolished the palaces of the surrounding nations and ruined their cities; their farms were desolated, their crops destroyed; everyone in the land shook with terror when they heard him roar. ⁸ Then the armies of the nations surrounded him, coming from every side, and trapped him in a pit and captured him. ⁹ They prodded him into a cage and brought him before the king of Babylon. He was held in captivity so that his voice could never again be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ “Your mother was like a vine beside an irrigation ditch, with lush, green foliage because of all the water. ¹¹ Its strongest branch became a ruler’s scepter, and it was very great, towering above the others and noticed from far away. ¹² But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. Its branches were broken and withered by a strong wind from the east; the fruit was destroyed by fire. ¹³ Now the vine is planted in the wilderness where the ground is hard and dry. ¹⁴ It is decaying from within;^[f] no strong branch remains. The fulfillment of this sad prophecy has already begun, and there is more ahead.”

4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

⁴ You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God. ⁵ Or what do you think the Scripture means when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy? ⁶ But he gives us more and more strength to stand against all such evil longings. As the Scripture says, God gives strength to the humble but sets himself against the proud and haughty.

⁷ So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone to make them pure and true to him. ⁹ Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰ Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.

¹¹ Don’t criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God’s law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it. ¹² Only he who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?

¹³ Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business.” ¹⁴ How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog—now you see it; soon it is gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.

¹⁷ Remember, too, that knowing what is right to do and then not doing it is sin.