First ReadingEzekiel 18:21-28
From the Book of Ezekiel
21“But if the wicked turns from all his sinsthat he has committed,and keeps all my statutes,and does that which is lawful and right,he shall surely live.He shall not die.22None of his transgressionsthat he has committed will be remembered against him.In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live.23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?”says the Lord GOD,“and not ratherthat he should return from his way, and live?
24“But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness,and commits iniquity,and does according to all the abominationsthat the wicked man does, should he live?None of his righteous deedsthat 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.
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?26When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness,and commits iniquity,and dies in it, then he dies in his iniquity that he has done.27Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickednessthat he has committed,and does that which is lawful and right,he will save his soul alive.28Because he considers,and turns away from all his transgressionsthat he has committed,he shall surely live.He shall not die.