CHAPTER 18
1 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,
2 What is it, that ye turn a parable among you into this proverb, in the land of Israel, and say, [The] Fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of sons be on edge, either astonied?
3 I live, saith the Lord God, this parable shall no more be into a proverb to you in Israel.
4 Lo! all souls be mine; as the soul of the father, so and the soul of the son is mine. That soul that doeth sin, shall die.
5 And if a man is just, and doeth doom and rightfulness,
6 eateth not in [the] hills, and raiseth not his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; and defouleth not the wife of his neighbour, and nigheth not to a woman defouled with unclean blood;
7 and maketh not a man sorry, yieldeth the wed to the debtor, ravisheth nothing by violence, giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth a naked man with a cloth;
8 lendeth not to usury, and taketh not more; turneth away his hand from wickedness, and maketh true doom betwixt man and man;
9 and goeth in my commandments, and keepeth my dooms, that he do truth; this is a just man, he shall live in life, saith the Lord God.
10 That if he engendereth a son, a thief, shedding out blood, and doeth one of these things,
11 and soothly not doing all these things, but eating in hills, and defouling the wife of his neighbour;
12 making sorrowful a needy man and poor, ravishing ravens, not yielding a wed, raising his eyes to idols, doing abomination;
13 giving to usury, and taking more; whether he shall live? he shall not live; when he hath done all these abominable things, he shall die by death, his blood shall be in him.
14 That if he begetteth a son, which seeth all the sins of his father, which he did, and dreadeth, and doeth none like those [or them];
15 eateth not on hills, and raiseth not his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; and defouleth not the wife of his neighbour,
16 and maketh not sorry a man, withholdeth not a wed, and ravisheth not raven, giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth the naked with a cloth;
17 turneth away his hand from the wrong of a poor man, taketh not usury and overabundance, that is, nothing more than he lent, and doeth my dooms, and goeth in my commandments; this son shall not die in the wickedness of his father, but he shall live in life.
18 For his father made false challenge, and did violence to his brother, and wrought evil in the midst of his people, lo! he is dead in his wickedness.
19 And ye say, Why beareth not the son the wickedness of the father? That is to say, for the son wrought doom and rightfulness, he kept all my commandments, and did those [or them], he shall live in life.
20 That soul that doeth sin, shall die; the son shall not bear the wickedness of the father, and the father shall not bear the wickedness of the son; the rightfulness [or rightwiseness] of a just man shall be on him, and the wicked-ness of a wicked man shall be on him.
21 Forsooth if a wicked man doeth penance of all his sins which he wrought, and keepeth all my behests, and doeth doom and rightfulness, he shall live by life, and shall not die.
22 I shall not have mind of all his wickednesses which he wrought; he shall live in his rightfulness [or right-wiseness] which he wrought.
23 Whether the death of the wicked man is of my will, saith the Lord God, and not that he be converted from his ways, and live?
24 Forsooth if a just man turneth away himself from his rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and doeth wickedness by all his abominations, which a wicked man is wont to work, whether he shall live? All his rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses] which he did, shall not be had in mind; in his trespassing by which he trespassed, and in his sin which he sinned, he shall die in those [or them].
25 And ye said, The way of the Lord is not even. Therefore, the house of Israel, hear ye, whether my way is not even, and not more, your ways be shrewd?
26 For when a rightful man turneth away himself from his rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and doeth wickedness, he shall die in it; he shall die in the unrightfulness [or unrightwiseness] which he wrought.
27 And when a wicked man turneth away himself from his wickedness which he wrought, and doeth doom and rightfulness, he shall quicken his soul.
28 For he beholding and turning away himself from all his wicked-nesses which he wrought, [he] shall live in life, and shall not die.
29 And the sons of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not even. Whether my ways be not even, ye house of Israel, and not more, your ways be shrewd?
30 Therefore, thou house of Israel, I shall deem each man by his ways, saith the Lord God. Turn ye altogether, and do ye penance for all your wickednesses, and wickedness shall not be to you into falling.
31 Cast away from you all your trespassings, by which ye trespassed, and make ye a new heart and a new spirit to you, and then why shall ye die, the house of Israel?
32 For I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; turn ye again, and live ye.