Bible Strands
Ezekiel 18:9
He follows My statutes and faithfully keeps My ordinances. That man is righteous; surely he will live, declares the Lord GOD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to contrast a hypothetical righteous man with his descendants. The declaration follows a detailed description of a person who executes true justice and withholds his hand from iniquity.
The words — The text hinges on צַדִּ֥יק (tza.Dik), meaning "righteous," and שָׁמַ֖ר (sha.Mar), meaning "he has kept." These terms anchor the man's status to his faithful adherence to divine statutes and judgments.
The thread — This theme of life through obedience to God's statutes reappears in Ezekiel 20:11 and echoes in Habakkuk 2:4 and Amos 5:4. Each reference ties survival and righteousness to faithful alignment with divine instruction.
Why it lands — The verse states that keeping ordinances and statutes results in righteousness and life. It demands a reader to acknowledge that moral standing and survival depend on concrete obedience, not merely on status or lineage.
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
King James Version
Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
- Habakkuk 2:4 Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright—but the righteous will live by faith—
- Amos 5:4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!
- Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Romans 1:17 For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- 1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
- 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.
- 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
- Leviticus 18:5 Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 4:1 Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.