17. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He does not take too much interest or profit when he lends money. He obeys my laws and lives by my rules. He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live.
18. But his father took other people’s money unfairly and robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. So he will die for his own sin.
19. “But you ask, ‘Why is the son not punished for the father’s sin?’ The son has done what is fair and right. He obeys all my rules, so he will surely live.
20. The person who sins is the one who will die. A child will not be punished for a parent’s sin, and a parent will not be punished for a child’s sin. Those who do right will enjoy the results of their own goodness; evil people will suffer the results of their own evil.
21. “But suppose the wicked stop doing all the sins they have done and obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then they will surely live; they will not die.
22. Their sins will be forgotten. Because they have done what is right, they will live.
23. I do not really want the wicked to die, says the Lord God. I want them to stop their bad ways and live.
24. “But suppose good people stop doing good and do wrong and do the same hateful things the wicked do. Will they live? All their good acts will be forgotten, because they became unfaithful. They have sinned, so they will die because of their sins.
25. “But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Listen, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair!
26. When good people stop doing good and do wrong, they will die because of it. They will die, because they did wrong.
27. When the wicked stop being wicked and do what is fair and right, they will save their lives.