Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways: God will punish the Israelites because their actions are not right (verse 29). For house of Israel, see Ezek 18.6. Their punishment will be every one according to his ways, that is, God will punish each person on the basis of what they have personally done. This is the implication of the principle of personal responsibility that has been the theme of this chapter. Contemporary English Version renders this sentence as “I will judge each of you for what you’ve done” (similarly Good News Translation).

For says the Lord GOD, see Ezek 18.3.

Repent and turn from all your transgressions: Repent and turn render two different forms of the Hebrew verb meaning “return” or “turn back.” Here they have the technical meaning of repenting and turning away from sin. From all your transgressions makes it clear that the technical sense is used here. For the Hebrew word rendered transgressions, see the comments on 14.11. Good News Translation renders this clause as “Turn away from all the evil you are doing,” and Contemporary English Version has simply “So stop sinning.”

Lest iniquity be your ruin is literally “so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you” (New American Standard Bible). A stumbling block is something that makes a person fall (see 3.20). Here the stumbling block is iniquity (see verse 17), which can lead to destruction. Good News Translation renders this clause as “and don’t let your sin destroy you” (similarly New Living Translation), and Revised English Bible has “or your iniquity will be your downfall” (similarly New International Version). Some other translations understand this clause differently; they see it as a warning not to allow the transgressions to become a “stumbling block of guilt” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), that is, a cause of further sin. This interpretation is less likely.

A model for this verse is:

• “Therefore, you people of Israel, I am going to judge each of you for what you’ve done. This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare. Turn away from the evil you have been doing so that your evil will not destroy you.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .