Ezekiel 18:26 (LSB)

Passage

When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has done he will die.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his unfaithfulness which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

Ezekiel 18:25 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?

Ezekiel 18:26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has done he will die.

Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has done and does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.

Ezekiel 18:28 Again, he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had done; he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "righteous", "turns", "away", "righteousness", "does", "injustice", and "dies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "righteous" and "turns", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "Yet you say The way of the..." into verse 27's "Again when a wicked man turns away...", so "righteous" and "turns" 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 "turns" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.