The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:18 As for his father, because he practised oppression, exercised robbery upon his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.
Ezekiel 18:19 And ye say, Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? But the son hath done judgment and justice, hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them; he shall certainly live.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:21 And the wicked, if he turn from all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do judgment and justice, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:22 None of his transgressions which he hath committed shall be remembered against him; in his righteousness which he hath done shall he live.
The verse centers on "soul", "sinneth", "shall", "bear", "iniquity", "father", and "neither". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "soul" and "sinneth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And ye say Why doth not the..." into verse 21's "And the wicked if he turn from...", so "soul" and "sinneth" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "soul" and "sinneth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.