Ezekiel 18:17

He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel during a discourse on individual moral accountability, addressing the house of Israel as he contrasts a righteous man with his wicked father. The prophet delivers this instruction to correct the community’s reliance on ancestral guilt.

The words — The text highlights נֶ֤שֶׁךְ (Ne.shekh) = interest and מִשְׁפָּטַ֣/י (mish.pa.Ta/i) = judgments/ my. These terms mark the man’s refusal to exploit the poor and his adherence to divine legal standards.

The thread — This pattern of rejecting usury and keeping statutes appears in Ezekiel 18:8 and Leviticus 18:4–26. The text links righteous living to specific legal observances rather than inherited guilt.

Why it lands — The text states the man will not die for his father’s iniquity but will surely live because he withholds his hand from harming the poor and keeps divine ordinances. A reader must apply this standard to evaluate personal conduct against inherited narratives of blame.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

מֵעָנִ֞יme./'a.Nifrom/ [the] poor הֵשִׁ֣יבhe.Shivhe has turned away יָד֗וֹya.D/ohand/ his נֶ֤שֶׁךְNe.shekhinterest וְתַרְבִּית֙ve./tar.Bitand/ interest לֹ֣אlo'not לָקָ֔חla.Kachhe has taken מִשְׁפָּטַ֣יmish.pa.Ta/ijudgments/ my עָשָׂ֔ה'a.Sahhe has done בְּחֻקּוֹתַ֖יbe./chu.ko.Ta/iin/ statutes/ my הָלָ֑ךְha.Lakhhe has walked ה֗וּאHu'he לֹ֥אlo'not יָמ֛וּתya.Muthe will die בַּעֲוֹ֥ןba./'a.Vonfor/ [the] iniquity of אָבִ֖יו'a.Vi/vfather/ his חָיֹ֥הcha.Yohcertainly <live>יִחְיֶֽה׃yich.Yehhe will live

King James Version

That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 18:8 He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.
Leviticus 18:4 You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:26 But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you.
Leviticus 18:30 You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
Job 29:16 I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
Proverbs 29:7 The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.
Proverbs 29:14 A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
Jeremiah 16:11 Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.
Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.