Ezekiel 16:20

18 You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

19 And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

21 You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

22 And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
KJV
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
WEB
“‘“Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,
ASV
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,
DARBY
And thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hadst borne unto me, and these didst thou sacrifice unto them, to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,
BLB
And you took your sons and your daughters, those whom you bore to Me, and you sacrificed them to them to be devoured! [Was] your prostitution too little?
ÅB
Du tok dine sønner og dine døtre, som du hadde født meg, og ofret dem til mat for dem. Var det ikke nok at du drev hor,
OTB
‘Dessuten tok du dine sønner og døtre som du fødte til meg og ofret dem til avguder for å bli fortært. Var ikke dine obskøne praksiser nok?
B1930
Du tok dine sønner og dine døtre, som du hadde født mig, og ofret dem til mat for dem. Var det ikke nok at du drev hor,

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Ezekiel 23:37

    For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.

    Read in context
  • Ezekiel 20:26

    And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 106:37–38

    They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

    Read in context
  • Exodus 13:2

    “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 7:31

    They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.

    Read in context
  • Ezekiel 20:31

    When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

    Read in context
  • Exodus 13:12

    you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.

    Read in context
  • Ezekiel 16:21

    You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

    Read in context