Ezekiel 20:16

¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

¹⁵ Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—

because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.

¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.

¹⁸ In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.

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: because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.
KJV: Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
WEB: because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
ASV: because they rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
DARBY: because they rejected mine ordinances and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
BLB: because My ordinances they rejected, and My statutes they did not walk in them, and My Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was walking after their idols.

ÅB: fordi de forkastet mine lover og ikke fulgte mine bud og vanhelliget mine sabbater; for deres hjerte fulgte deres motbydelige avguder.
OTB: fordi de forkastet mine forordninger, fulgte ikke mine lover, og vanhelliget mine sabbater, for deres hjerter var viet til deres avguder.
B1930: fordi de forkastet mine lover og ikke fulgte mine bud og vanhelliget mine sabbater; for deres hjerte fulgte deres motbydelige avguder.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Numbers 15:39
These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.
Read in context
Ezekiel 14:3–4
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?
Read in context
Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
Read in context
Numbers 25:2
who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.
Read in context
Acts 7:39–43
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
Read in context
Ezekiel 20:13–14
Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
Read in context
Ezekiel 23:8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
Read in context
Amos 5:25–26
Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Read in context