Bible Strands
Jeremiah 31:30
Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to the house of Israel and Judah regarding a future restoration. This declaration immediately follows the dismissal of a proverb that blamed children for the fathers' sins.
The words — אִם־ ('im-) translates as "except" or "if," and יָמ֑וּת (ya.Mut) means "he will die." These terms frame the verse's direct statement that personal iniquity brings individual death.
The thread — The principle of individual accountability appears in Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20, which both prohibit generational punishment for sin. Isaiah 3:11 also reinforces the theme of direct divine repayment for personal actions.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that moral responsibility rests on the individual, not on ancestral lineage. A reader must accept that personal choices, not inherited guilt, determine spiritual outcome.
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
But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
- Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
- Galatians 6:5 For each one should carry his own load.
- Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
- Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Ezekiel 33:18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.
- Ezekiel 33:8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
- Ezekiel 33:13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.