“But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
Ezekiel 18:22 None of his transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live.
Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
Ezekiel 18:24 “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
Ezekiel 18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
Ezekiel 18:26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done he shall die.
The verse centers on "righteous", "turns", "away", "righteousness", "commits", "iniquity", "does", and "abominations". 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 23's "Have I any pleasure in the death..." into verse 25's "Yet you say The way of the...", 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.