Ezekiel 33:12-20

33:12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, ¹  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ²  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ³  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁴  if he sins.’ ⁵  33:13 Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. 33:14 Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. 33:15 He ⁶  returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, ⁷  committing no iniquity. He will certainly live – he will not die. 33:16 None of the sins he has committed will be counted ⁸  against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

33:17 “Yet your people ⁹  say, ‘The behavior ¹⁰  of the Lord is not right,’ ¹¹  when it is their behavior that is not right. 33:18 When a righteous man turns from his godliness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. 33:19 When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. 33:20 Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.” ¹² 

[33:12]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

[33:12]  ² 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.

[33:12]  ³ tn Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”

[33:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “by it.”

[33:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the day of his sin.”

[33:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the wicked one.”

[33:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and in the statutes of life he walks.”

[33:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “remembered.”

[33:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

[33:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “way.”

[33:17]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “is (not) right” has the basic meaning of “to measure.” For a similar concept, see Ezek 18:25, 29.

[33:20]  ¹² tn Heb “ways.”