Ezekiel 18:32
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Study Note
Study Note
This verse forms the rhetorical climax of Ezekiel 18's extended argument for individual moral accountability, refuting the proverb that children suffer for the sins of their parents. The declaration 'I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth' reveals the divine pathos at the heart of prophetic theology — God's justice is not punitive desire but reluctant necessity when repentance is withheld. The imperative 'turn yourselves and live' (shuvu v'hiyu) is one of the most direct calls to conversion in the Hebrew prophets, anticipating Ezekiel 33:11's even more passionate reiteration. New Testament theology of repentance (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4) draws on precisely this divine disposition of universal salvific will.
Other Translations
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.
For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And turn ye back and live!
For I have no pleasure in the death of him on whom death comes, says the Lord: be turned back then, and have life.
Cross References
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; …
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should …
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing …
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.