complete verse (Ezekiel 18:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 18:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “He realizes that what he was doing is bad and turns around. Then he does not get lost, but he shall be well/saved.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He will- not -die but he will-continue to live because he realized all his sins and he abandoned/left them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Because he has thought about all the evil things that he did and has turned away from doing them, he will surelybe allowed to live. He will not be executed for having done evil things.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 18:27 - 18:28

Verses 27-28 repeat the theme of wicked people who repent and thereafter live good lives. See the comments on verses 21-22.

Good News Translation provides an acceptable model for verses 26-28, but it does retain the masculine pronoun “he.” New Century Version provides a helpful model without this pronoun, saying:

• 26 When good people stop doing good and do wrong, they will die because of it. They will die, because they did wrong. 27 When the wicked stop being wicked and do what is fair and right, they will save their lives. 28 Because they thought about it and stopped doing all the sins they had done, they will surely live. They will not die.

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 .