The Meaning of Ezekiel 18:30 Explained

Ezekiel 18:30

KJV: Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

YLT: Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,

Darby: Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your snare.

ASV: Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore I will judge  you, O house  of Israel,  every one  according to his ways,  saith  the Lord  GOD.  Repent,  and turn  [yourselves] from all your transgressions;  so iniquity  shall not be your ruin. 

What does Ezekiel 18:30 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In closing, God promised to judge each Israelite according to his or her own conduct. He urged His people to turn from their transgressions of His law so their sins would not prove to be what tripped them up as they journeyed through life.

Context Summary

Ezekiel 18:14-32 - The Reversal Of The Divine Judgment
The Jews of Ezekiel's day asserted that God's dealings with their nation were not just, because they were suffering, not for their own sins, but for their fathers'. God here makes it clear that He deals with individuals according to their deserts. The guilty son of a good father does not escape punishment because of his father's virtues; and the good son of evil parents reaps the reward of his own goodness. What a well of comfort is supplied by Ezekiel 18:21-22! God pledges Himself that forgiven sin shall not even be mentioned. This solemn covenant should be appropriated and its fulfillment claimed, by those who through all their lifetime have been subject to bondage because of their past. We must not be content with an outward amendment; there must be, and there can be, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, an inward and radical change. This impossible command drives us to the Holy Spirit, Psalms 51:10; Psalms 51:12. As Augustine puts it: "Give what thou requirest, and require what thou wilt." [source]

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 18

1  God defends his justice
31  and exhorts to repentance

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 18:30 mean?

therefore every one according to his ways I will judge you house of Israel says the Lord GOD Repent and turn from all your transgressions so that not will be to you your ruin iniquity
לָכֵן֩ אִ֨ישׁ כִּדְרָכָ֜יו אֶשְׁפֹּ֤ט אֶתְכֶם֙ בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֑ה שׁ֤וּבוּ וְהָשִׁ֙יבוּ֙ מִכָּל־ פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔ם וְלֹֽא־ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם לְמִכְשׁ֖וֹל עָוֺֽן

אִ֨ישׁ  every  one 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
כִּדְרָכָ֜יו  according  to  his  ways 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
אֶשְׁפֹּ֤ט  I  will  judge 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁפַט  
Sense: to judge, govern, vindicate, punish.
בֵּ֣ית  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
נְאֻ֖ם  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
אֲדֹנָ֣י  the  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִ֑ה  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
שׁ֤וּבוּ  Repent 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
וְהָשִׁ֙יבוּ֙  and  turn 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
מִכָּל־  from  all 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔ם  your  transgressions 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: פֶּשַׁע  
Sense: transgression, rebellion.
וְלֹֽא־  so  that  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִהְיֶ֥ה  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לָכֶ֛ם  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
לְמִכְשׁ֖וֹל  your  ruin 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִכְשֹׁול  
Sense: a stumbling, means or occasion of stumbling, stumbling block.
עָוֺֽן  iniquity 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: עָוֹן  
Sense: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.