16. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.
17. “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.
18. For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die.
19. But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.
20. O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”
21. On January 8, during the twelfth year of our captivity, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!”
22. The previous evening the lord had taken hold of me and given me back my voice. So I was able to speak when this man arrived the next morning.
23. Then this message came to me from the lord:
24. “Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land. We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’