Ezekiel 18:9–19

⁹He follows My statutes

and faithfully keeps My ordinances.

That man is righteous;

surely he will live,

declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁰Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things, ¹¹though the father has done none of them:

Indeed, the son eats at the mountain

and defiles his neighbor’s wife.

¹²He oppresses the poor and needy;

he commits robbery

and does not restore a pledge.

He lifts his eyes to idols;

he commits abominations.

¹³He 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.

¹⁴Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

¹⁵He does not eat at the mountain

or look to the idols of the house of Israel.

He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

¹⁶He does not oppress another,

or retain a pledge, or commit robbery.

He gives his bread to the hungry

and covers the naked with clothing.

¹⁷He withholds his hand from harming the poor^a

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.

¹⁸As 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.

¹⁹Yet 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.