Ezekiel 18:25 (DRB)

Passage

And you have said: The way of the Lord is not right. Hear ye, therefore, O house of Israel: Is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways perverse?

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:23 Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?

Ezekiel 18:24 But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? all his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: in the prevarication, by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he shall die.

Ezekiel 18:25 And you have said: The way of the Lord is not right. Hear ye, therefore, O house of Israel: Is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways perverse?

Ezekiel 18:26 For when the just turneth himself away from his justice, and comitteth iniquity, he shall die therein: in the injustice that he hath wrought he shall die.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "lord", "right", "hear", "therefore", "house", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "But if the just man turn himself..." into verse 26's "For when the just turneth himself away...", so "said" and "lord" 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 "said" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.