8When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.
9But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, but you will have saved yourself.
10Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?'
11Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their ways and live. Turn back! Turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?'
12Therefore, son of man, say to your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous person will not save them on the day of their transgression, nor will the wickedness of the wicked person cause them to fall on the day they turn from their wickedness. The righteous person cannot live by their righteousness on the day they sin.'
13If I say to the righteous person, 'You will surely live,' but they trust in their righteousness and commit iniquity, none of their righteous acts will be remembered. They will die because of the iniquity they have committed.
14And if I say to the wicked person, 'You will surely die,' but they turn from their sin and do what is just and right—
15if they return what they took in pledge for a loan, restore anything they have stolen, and follow the decrees that give life, doing no wrong—they will surely live; they will not die.
16None of the sins they have committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
17Yet your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just.
18If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits iniquity, they will die because of it.
19But if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live because of it.