Bible Chapter Summary
Ezekiel 18 Summary
Individual Righteousness and God's Justice
God refutes the proverb that children's teeth are set on edge by fathers eating sour grapes, declaring that souls belong to Him and the soul that sins shall die. God outlines the righteous man who does not eat on mountains, does not lift eyes to idols, does not defile his neighbor's wife, does not oppress, gives bread to hungry, covers the naked, does not lend on usury, and walks in God's statutes—such a man shall surely live. If such a righteous man has a wicked son who does all the abominable things, that son shall die. But if the wicked son has a righteous son, that grandson shall live for his own righteousness, not for his father's sin. God emphasizes that the righteous shall live and the wicked shall die according to their own deeds, calling the people to repent and turn away from sin to live.
Key themes
Key verses
Ezekiel 18:4
“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Ezekiel 18:20
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Ezekiel 18:21
“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”
Ezekiel 18:32
“For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
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