Ezekiel 18:26 (DBY)

Passage

When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and practiseth what is wrong, and dieth for it; in his wrong that he hath done shall he die.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:24 And when the righteous turneth from his righteousness and practiseth what is wrong, [and] doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous acts which he hath done shall be remembered: in his unfaithfulness which he hath wrought, and in his sin which he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Ezekiel 18:25 And ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear then, house of Israel. Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

Ezekiel 18:26 When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and practiseth what is wrong, and dieth for it; in his wrong that he hath done shall he die.

Ezekiel 18:27 And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall keep his soul alive.

Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considereth, and turneth from all his transgressions which he hath committed, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "righteous", "turneth", "away", "righteousness", "practiseth", "wrong", and "dieth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "righteous" and "turneth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "And ye say The way of the..." into verse 27's "And when the wicked turneth from his...", so "righteous" and "turneth" 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 "righteous" and "turneth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.