Ezekiel 18:30
in Ezekiel 18Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
KJV
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
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This verse in Ezekiel 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis message is specifically directed towards the Israelites, urging them to repent and abandon their iniquities or transgressions against God. However, it can also be understood as applicable to both the Israelites and the crowd of Gentiles, encouraging them to forsake their vices and turn to the one who can heal their brokenness.
This site's exposition
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways
on Ezekiel 18:30-32
The chapter closes on command, make you a new heart, an appeal that anticipates the new heart the Lord himself promises to give at 36:26. Keil reads the juxtaposition as deliberate, the same chapter that has argued individual responsibility ends by admitting the new heart is finally God's own gift.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 30.) Therefore, I will judge each one according to their ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord God. Whether they are from the multitude of nations or from the people of Israel who are being judged: God does not show partiality (Colossians 3:25), but each one will be rewarded according to their faith, and will be condemned for their wickedness and unbelief.
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8 · Written before 99.
proposed
The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" [Ezekiel 33:11] adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, "Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity." [Ezekiel 18:30] Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sack-cloth, yet if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people. [2 Chronicles 7:14] And in another place He speaks thus: "Wash you and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before my eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." [Isaiah 1:16-20] Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].
These words show us that the mind must not fail to believe in the promised blessings and give way to despair; and the soul once marked out for perdition must not refuse to apply remedies on the ground that its wounds are past curing.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus far that is right which is implied in this proverbial saying, That those who are guilty of wilful sin eat sour grapes; they do that which they will feel from, sooner or later. The grapes may look well enough in the temptation, but they will be bitter as bitterness itself in the reflection. They will set the sinner's teeth on edge.
Therefore will I judge you, O house of Israel,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions - There is still life; still a God that has no pleasure in the death of a sinner. one who is ever ready to give his Holy Spirit to all them that ask him; therefore “repent and turn, so iniquity shall not be your ruin.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
As God is to judge them "according to their ways" (Pr 1:31), their only hope is to "repent"; and this is a sure hope, for God takes no delight in judging them in wrath, but graciously desires their salvation on repentance.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵן֩ | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אִ֨ישׁ | ʾish | everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כִּדְרָכָ֜יו | kidrakhav | according to ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֶשְׁפֹּ֤ט | ʾeshpot | I will judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶתְכֶם֙ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | O house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| שׁ֤וּבוּ | shuvu | turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְהָשִׁ֙יבוּ֙ | vehashivu | and turn away | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔ם | pisheikhem | transgressions your | H6588 → | 93 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | for you | ||
| לְמִכְשׁ֖וֹל | lemikhshol | <into> a stumbling block | H4383 → | 14 times |
| עָוֹֽן׃ | ʾavon | iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
לָכֵן֩<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אִ֨ישׁeveryone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כִּדְרָכָ֜יוaccording to ways his
kidrakhavH1870 →707 times
אֶשְׁפֹּ֤טI will judge
ʾeshpotH8199 →202 times
אֶתְכֶם֙<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בֵּ֣יתO house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
שׁ֤וּבוּturn back
shuvuH7725 →1056 times
וְהָשִׁ֙יבוּ֙and turn away
vehashivuH7725 →1056 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔םtransgressions your
pisheikhemH6588 →93 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will become
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֛םfor you
lakhem
לְמִכְשׁ֖וֹל<into> a stumbling block
lemikhsholH4383 →14 times
עָוֹֽן׃iniquity
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 16:27For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
it leads to
- Psalms 62:12
and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Romans 2:6
God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
- Romans 14:12
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Psalms 62:12
Through
Matthew 3:2and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
it leads to
- Mark 1:15
“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
- Matthew 4:17
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
- Mark 1:15
Through
Luke 13:3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
it leads to
- Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
- Acts 3:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; Jerome, LETTER 122.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.