They hate the arbiter in the gate, and detest him whose plea is just. Assuredly, because you impose a tax on the poor and exact from him a levy of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone but you shall not live in them; you have planted delightful vineyards, but shall not drink their wine. For I have noted how many are your crimes, and how countless your sins -- you enemies of the righteous, you takers of bribes, you who subvert in the gate the cause of the needy!
[JPS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. In what ways do the punishments listed here match the crimes that brought them?
You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land.
[JPS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What is this text suggesting about our relationships with people from other races and cultures?
Thus, if a man is righteous and does what is just and right: If he has not eaten on the mountains or raised his eyes to the fetishes of the House of Israel; if he has not defiled another man's wife or approached a menstruous woman; if he has not wronged anyone; if he has returned the debtor's pledge to him and has taken nothing by robbery; if he has given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked; if he has not lent at advance interest or exacted accrued interest; if he has abstained from wrongdoing and executed true justice between man and man; if he has followed My laws and kept My rules and acted honestly -- he is righteous. Such a man shall live -- declares the Lord GOD. Suppose, now, that he has begotten a son who is a ruffian, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things, whereas he himself did none of these things. That is, the son has eaten on the mountains, has defiled another man's wife, has wronged the poor and the needy, has taken by robbery, has not returned a pledge, has raised his eyes to the fetishes, has committed abomination, has lent at advance interest, or exacted accrued interest -- shall he live? He shall not live! If he has committed any of these abominations, he shall die; he has forfeited his life. Now suppose that he, in turn, has begotten a son who has seen all the sins that his father committed, but has taken heed and has not imitated them: He has not eaten on the mountains or raised his eyes to the fetishes of the House of Israel; he has not defiled another man's wife; he has not wronged anyone; he has not seized a pledge or taken anything by robbery; he has given his bread to the hungry and clothed the naked; he has refrained from oppressing the poor; he has not exacted advance or accrued interest; he has obeyed My rules and followed My laws -- he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, but shall live. To be sure, his father, because he practiced fraud, robbed his brother, and acted wickedly among his kin, did die for his iniquity; and now you ask, "Why has not the son shared the burden of his father's guilt?" But the son has done what is right and just, and has carefully kept all My laws: he shall live! The person who sins, he alone shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent's guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child's guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to him alone. Moreover, if the wicked one repents of all the sins that he committed and keeps all My laws and does what is just and right, he shall live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions he committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness he has practiced, he shall live. Is it my desire that a wicked person shall die? -- says the Lord GOD. It is rather that he shall turn back from his ways and live. So, too, if a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does wrong, practicing the very abominations that the wicked person practiced, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he did shall be remembered; because of the treachery he has practiced and the sins he has committed -- because of these, he shall die.
[JPS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
2. In what ways do we learn our parents' values and behaviors? When is it easy to navigate our own values? When is hard to break-away?
3. In what ways is our generation paying for the mistakes of our parent's generation?