“‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, ¹  whose day has come, the time of final punishment,

Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer ¹  for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer ²  for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness. ³ 

May the evil deeds of the wicked ¹  come to an end! ²  But make the innocent ³  secure, ⁴  O righteous God, you who examine ⁵  inner thoughts and motives! ⁶ 

Yes, ¹  the wicked man ²  boasts because he gets what he wants; ³  the one who robs others ⁴  curses ⁵  and ⁶  rejects the Lord. ⁷ 

Evil men will soon disappear; ¹  you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone. ² 

Evil men draw their swords and prepare their bows, to bring down ¹  the oppressed and needy, and to slaughter those who are godly. ² 

But ¹  evil men will die; the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated ²  – they will go up in smoke. ³ 

For the Lord promotes ¹  justice, and never abandons ²  his faithful followers. They are permanently secure, ³  but the children ⁴  of evil men are wiped out. ⁵ 

The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, ¹  for they seek his protection.

But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they ¹  prolong their ²  days like a shadow, ³  because they ⁴  do not stand in fear ⁵  before God.

They intended to bury him with criminals, ¹  but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, ²  because ³  he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully.

The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely. But there is too much dross to be removed. ¹  The process of refining them has proved useless. ²  The wicked have not been purged.

Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone ¹  from the south ²  to the north.

we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards.

“I will not overlook, ¹  O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, ²  or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. ³ 

“I will destroy people and animals; I will destroy the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea. (The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) ¹  I will remove ²  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

But his master answered, ¹  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?

I broke the fangs ¹  of the wicked, and made him drop ²  his prey from his teeth.

No enemy will be able to exact tribute ¹  from him; ²  a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him. ³