Ezekiel 18:12 (YLT)

Passage

The afflicted and needy he hath oppressed, Plunder he hath taken violently away, A pledge he doth not return, And unto the idols he hath lifted up his eyes, Abomination he hath done!

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:10 And--he hath begotten a son, A burglar--a shedder of blood, And he hath made a brother of one of these,

Ezekiel 18:11 And he all those hath not done, For even on the mountains he hath eaten, And the wife of his neighbour he hath defiled,

Ezekiel 18:12 The afflicted and needy he hath oppressed, Plunder he hath taken violently away, A pledge he doth not return, And unto the idols he hath lifted up his eyes, Abomination he hath done!

Ezekiel 18:13 In usury he hath given, and increase taken, And he liveth: he doth not live, All these abominations he hath done, He doth surely die, his blood is on him.

Ezekiel 18:14 And--lo, he hath begotten a son, And he seeth all the sins of his father, That he hath done, and he feareth, And doth not do like them,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "afflicted", "needy", "hath", "oppressed", "plunder", "taken", and "violently". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "afflicted" and "needy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And he all those hath not done..." into verse 13's "In usury he hath given and increase...", so "afflicted" and "needy" 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 "afflicted" and "needy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.