Ezekiel 18:1

THE MESSAGE

God 's Message to me: "What do you people mean by going around the country repeating the saying, The parents ate green apples, The children got the stomachache?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The word of the Lord came to me:

Hebrew Names Version
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

King James Version
The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

English Standard Version
The word of the Lord came to me:

New American Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

Amplified Bible
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

World English Bible
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
The worde of the Lord came vnto me againe, saying,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Contemporary English Version
The Lord said:

Complete Jewish Bible
The word of Adonai came to me:

Darby Translation
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
The word of the Lord came to me. He said,

George Lamsa Translation
THE word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord spoke to me

Lexham English Bible
And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Literal Translation
And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The worde of the LORDE came vnto me, on this maner:

American Standard Version
The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying,

Bible in Basic English
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

King James Version (1611)
And the word of ye Lord came vnto me againe, saying;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The word of the Lord came vnto me, saying:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

English Revised Version
The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

Update Bible Version
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

New English Translation
The word of the Lord came to me:

New King James Version
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

New Living Translation
Then another message came to me from the Lord :

New Life Bible
The Word of the Lord came to me saying,

New Revised Standard
The word of the Lord came to me:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is the meaning?

Revised Standard Version
The word of the LORD came to me again:

Young's Literal Translation
`And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

Contextual Overview

¹ God 's Message to me: "What do you people mean by going around the country repeating the saying, The parents ate green apples, The children got the stomachache? ³"As sure as I'm the living God, you're not going to repeat this saying in Israel any longer. Every soul—man, woman, child—belongs to me, parent and child alike. You die for your own sin, not another's. ⁵"Imagine a person who lives well, treating others fairly, keeping good relationships— doesn't eat at the pagan shrines, doesn't worship the idols so popular in Israel, doesn't seduce a neighbor's spouse, doesn't indulge in casual sex, doesn't bully anyone, doesn't pile up bad debts, doesn't steal, doesn't refuse food to the hungry, doesn't refuse clothing to the ill-clad, doesn't exploit the poor, doesn't live by impulse and greed, doesn't treat one person better than another, But lives by my statutes and faithfully honors and obeys my laws. This person who lives upright and well shall live a full and true life. Decree of God , the Master.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 12:7
God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.

Genesis 15:1
After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"

Genesis 17:22
God finished speaking with Abraham and left.

Genesis 18:1
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

Genesis 18:3
He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path." They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."

Genesis 26:2
God appeared to him and said, "Don't go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I'll be with you and bless you. I'm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I'll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings."

Genesis 48:3
Jacob said to Joseph, "The Strong God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said, ‘I'm going to make you prosperous and numerous, turn you into a congregation of tribes; and I'll turn this land over to your children coming after you as a permanent inheritance.' I'm adopting your two sons who were born to you here in Egypt before I joined you; they have equal status with Reuben and Simeon. But any children born after them are yours; they will come after their brothers in matters of inheritance. I want it this way because, as I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel, to my deep sorrow, died as we were on our way through Canaan when we were only a short distance from Ephrath, now called Bethlehem."

Exodus 4:1
Moses objected, "They won't trust me. They won't listen to a word I say. They're going to say, ‘ God ? Appear to him? Hardly!'"

2 Chronicles 1:7
That night God appeared to Solomon. God said, "What do you want from me? Ask."

Acts 7:2
Stephen replied, "Friends, fathers, and brothers, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before the move to Haran, and told him, ‘Leave your country and family and go to the land I'll show you.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum; and its being mentioned is coming from the Lord is to give it weight and authority. This is a distinct sermon or prophecy from the former, and was sent and delivered out at another time.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The last verse of Ezekiel 17:0 gives occasion for a declaration of the principle upon which God’s providential dispensations proceed, namely, that every individual shall be equitably dealt with - a principle that precludes the children from either presuming on the father’s merits or despairing on account of the father’s guilt. This chapter is an enlargement of Jeremiah 31:29, and sets forth fully the doctrine of individual responsibility.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XVIII

The Jews, in Ezekiel's time, complained of God's dealing hardly

with them in punishing them for the sins of their forefathers,

1, 2;

their temporal calamities having been long threatened as the

consequence of the national guilt, (Jeremiah 15:4, c.)

and, from the general complexion of this chapter, it appears

that the Jews so interpreted the second commandment of the

Decalogue and other passages of like import, as if the sins of

the forefathers were visited upon the children, independently

of the moral conduct of the latter, not only in this world, but

in that which is to come. To remove every foundation for such

an unworthy idea of the Divine gorcrnment, God assures them,

with an oath, that he had no respect of persons, 3, 4;

strongly intimating that the great mysteries in Providence,

(mysterious only on account of the limited capacity of man,)

are results of the most impartial administration of justice;

and that this would be particularly manifested in the rewards

and punishments of another life; when every ligament that at

present connects societies and nations together shall be

dissolved, and each person receive according to his work, and

bear his own burden. This is illustrated by a variety of

examples: such as that of a just or righteous man, 5-9;

his wicked son, 10-13;

and again the just son of this wicked person, 14-20.

Then a wicked man repenting, and finding mercy, whose former

wickedness shall be no impediment to his salvation, 21-23;

and a righteous man revolting, and dying in his sins, whose

former righteousness shall be of no avail, 24.

The conduct of the Divine Providence is then vindicated, 25-29;

and all persons, without any exception, most earnestly exhorted

to repentance, 30, 31;

because the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of the sinner,

32.

As the whole of this chapter is taken up with the illustration

of a doctrine nearly connected with the comfort of man, and the

honour of the Divine government, the prophet, with great

propriety, lays aside his usual mode of figure and allegory,

and treats his subject with the utmost plainness and

perspicuity.

NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII