Ezekiel 5:6

5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ¹  and the countries around her. ²  Indeed, they ³  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

Ezekiel 18:20

18:20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer ⁴  for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer ⁵  for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 33:12

33:12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, ⁷  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ⁸  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ⁹  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ¹⁰  if he sins.’ ¹¹ 

¹ sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.

² tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”

³ sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.

⁴ tn Heb “lift up, bear.”

⁵ tn Heb “lift up, bear.”

⁶ tn Heb “the righteousness of the righteous one will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked one will be upon him.”

⁷ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

⁸ tn Heb “in the day of his rebellion.” The statement envisions a godly person rejecting what is good and becoming sinful. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:247-48.

⁹ tn Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “by it.”

¹¹ tn Heb “in the day of his sin.”