Ezekiel 18:4 (DBY)

Passage

Behold, all the souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:2 What mean ye, ye who use this proverb of the land of Israel, saying, [The] fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

Ezekiel 18:3 [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have any more to use this proverb in Israel.

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all the souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Ezekiel 18:5 And if a man be righteous, and do judgment and justice:

Ezekiel 18:6 he hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, nor come near to a woman in her separation,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "souls", "mine", and "father". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "souls", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "As I live saith the Lord Jehovah..." into verse 5's "And if a man be righteous and...", so "behold" and "souls" 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 "behold" and "souls" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.