Yehezkiel 18:5-9

18:5 “Suppose a man is righteous. He practices what is just and right, 18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ¹  or pray to the idols ²  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a ³  woman during her period, 18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ⁴  does not commit robbery, ⁵  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, ⁶  but refrains ⁷  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ⁸  between men, 18:9 and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. ⁹  That man ¹⁰  is righteous; he will certainly live, ¹¹  declares the sovereign Lord.

Yehezkiel 18:14-17

18:14 “But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father’s example. ¹²  18:15 He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 18:16 does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked, 18:17 refrains from wrongdoing, ¹³  does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity; ¹⁴  he will surely live.

[18:6]  ¹ tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

[18:6]  ² tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

[18:6]  ³ tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).

[18:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

[18:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

[18:8]  ⁶ sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “justice of truth.”

[18:9]  ⁹ tc The MT reads לַעֲשׂוֹת אֱמֶת (la’asot ’emet, “to do with integrity”), while the LXX reads “to do them,” presupposing לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָם (la’asot ’otam). The ם (mem) and ת (tav) have been reversed in the MT. The LXX refelcts the original, supported by similar phrasing in Ezekiel 11:20; 20:19.

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he.”

[18:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “living, he will live.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[18:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and he sees and does not do likewise.”

[18:17]  ¹³ tc This translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “restrains his hand from the poor,” which makes no sense here.

[18:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “in his father’s punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 18, 19, 20; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”