2 ARST “You people quote this proverb and say that it is about Israel:‘Parents eat sour grapes, but it is their children who have a very sour taste in their mouths.’ This means that you think that you must suffer for the sins that your ancestors committed. BSB BSB: “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 ARST But I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, you Israelite people will no longer say this proverb. BSB BSB: As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
4 ARST Everyone who is alive belongs to me. That includes children and their parents; they all belong to me. And it is those who sin who will die because of their sins. BSB BSB: Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
5 ARST So suppose that there is a righteous person, one who always does what is fair and right. BSB BSB: Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:
6 ARST He does not eat meat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops; he does not request help from idols as the rest of Israel has been doing. He does not sleep with someone else’ s wife or with a woman during her monthly menstrual period. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST He does not mistreat people; if a person borrows money from him and gives him something to guarantee that he will pay the money back, this man always gives it back to that person before the sun goes down. He does not rob people. He gives food to hungry people. He gives clothing to people who need clothes. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST When he lends money to people, he does not do it to make him pay interest. He does not do things that are evil. He always decides things fairly. BSB BSB: He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.
9 ARST He faithfully obeys all my laws. That man is truly righteous; he will remain alive. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, promise. BSB BSB: He follows My statutes and faithfully keeps My ordinances. That man is righteous; surely he will live, declares the Lord GOD.
10 ARST But suppose that man has a son who acts violently, who murders people and does any of these other things, even though his father has not done any of them. BSB BSB: Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things,
11 ARST He eats meat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops. He sleeps with other people’ s wives. BSB BSB: though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.
12 ARST He mistreats poor and needy people. He robs people. If someone gives him something to guarantee that he will pay back money that he has borrowed, the unrighteous man never gives it back to him before the sun goes down. He seeks help from idols. He does other disgusting things. BSB BSB: He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.
13 ARST When he lends money, he charges interest. If you think that I will keep such a person alive, you are certainly wrong. Because he has done all those detestable things, I will certainly make him die, and it will be his own fault. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST But suppose that man has a son who sees all the sins that his father commits, but he himself does not do those things. BSB BSB: Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:
15 ARST The son does not eat meat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops. He does not request help from idols. He does not sleep with other people’ s wives. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST He does not mistreat people. If he lends money to someone, he does not require that person to give him something to guarantee that he will pay the money back. He does not rob anyone. He gives food to those who need it. He gives clothes to those who need clothes. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST He does not commit sins, unlike his father, and does not charge interest when he lends money. He faithfully obeys all my laws. I will make sure that that person does not die for his father’ s sins; he will certainly stay alive. BSB BSB: He 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 ARST But I will ensure that his father will die for the sins that he committed, because the father cheated and robbed people, and did other things that are evil. BSB BSB: As 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 ARST If you ask,‘Why should the man’ s son not suffer for the evil things that his father did?’, I will answer that the son has done what is fair and right and has obeyed all my laws, so he will surely remain alive. BSB BSB: Yet 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.
21 ARST But if a wicked person stops doing all the evil things that he did previously, and if he starts to obey faithfully all my laws, and if he does what is fair and right, he will surely remain alive; I will not kill him. BSB BSB: But 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 ARST I will not punish him for the sins he committed previously. Because of the good things that he has done since that time, I will allow him to stay alive. BSB BSB: None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live.
23 ARST I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I certainly am not happy about wicked people dying. Instead, I am happy when they stop doing wicked things and remain alive as a result. BSB BSB: Do 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 ARST But if a righteous person stops doing right things and starts to commit sins and does the same disgusting things that wicked people do, I will certainly not allow him to remain alive. I will not think about the righteous things that he did previously. Because he did not faithfully do what pleases me, and because of all the sins that he has committed, he will certainly die. BSB BSB: But 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 ARST But you say that I, Yahweh, do not act fairly. You Israelite people, listen to what I say: It is certainly not what I do that is unfair; it is what you continually do that is not fair. BSB BSB: Yet 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 ARST If a righteous person turns away from doing what is right and commits sins, he will die for committing those sins. BSB BSB: If 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 ARST But if a wicked person turns away from doing wicked things and does what is just and right, he will save himself from dying. BSB BSB: But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
28 ARST Because he has thought about all the evil things that he did and has turned away from doing them, I will certainly allow him to live. I will not kill him. BSB BSB: Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.
29 ARST But you, the Israelites, say that I do not act fairly. You people of Israel, I always actly fairly. It is you who are acting wickedly. BSB BSB: Yet 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 ARST Therefore, you Israelite people, I, Yahweh the Lord, will judge each of you according to what you have done. Repent! Turn away from all your wicked behavior! Then I will not destroy you because of the wrong things you have done. BSB BSB: Therefore, 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 ARST Stop doing wicked things; start thinking in a new way. You Israelite people, do you really want me to kill you because you have sinned? BSB BSB: Cast 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 ARST I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I am not pleased if you die. So turn away from your sins and stay alive!” BSB BSB: For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.