New English Translation
Ezekiel 20:31
31When you present your sacrifices – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me!
Ezekiel 20:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.
- New International Version (NIV)When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.
- English Standard Version (ESV)When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.
Context of Ezekiel 20:31
29So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’” (So it is called “High Place” to this day.) 30“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers and engage in prostitution with detestable idols? When you present your sacrifices – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! 32“‘What you plan will never happen. You say, “We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” 33As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm, and with an outpouring of rage, I will be king over you.
Read all of Ezekiel 20Ezekiel 20:31 word by word
וּבִשְׂאֵ֣ת מַתְּנֹֽתֵיכֶ֡ם בְּֽהַעֲבִיר֩ בְּנֵיכֶ֨ם בָּאֵ֜שׁ אַתֶּם֩ נִטְמְאִ֤֨ים לְכָל־גִּלּֽוּלֵיכֶם֙ עַד־הַיּ֔וֹם וַאֲנִ֛י אִדָּרֵ֥שׁ לָכֶ֖ם בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל חַי־אָ֗נִי נְאֻם֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה אִם־אִדָּרֵ֖שׁ לָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For when ye offerנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
- your giftsמַתָּנָהmattânâh · giftH4979
- when ye make your sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- to pass throughעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- ye polluteטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
- yourselves with all your idolsגִּלּוּלgillûl gillûl · idolH1544
- even unto this dayיוֹםyôm · day: todayH3117
- and shall I be enquiredדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
- of by you, O houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- I liveחַיchay · aliveH2416
- saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069
Cross-references for Ezekiel 20:31
- Ezekiel 20:26I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’
- Deuteronomy 18:10There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer,
- Psalms 106:37They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
- Jeremiah 7:31They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!
- Jeremiah 19:5They have built places here for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!
- Ezekiel 20:3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, declares the sovereign Lord.’
- Ezekiel 14:3“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek me?
- 1 Samuel 28:5When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.
- 2 Kings 3:13Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.”
- Job 27:8For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Psalms 66:18If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Proverbs 1:27when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm, when distressing trouble comes on you.
- Proverbs 28:9The one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
- Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.
- Jeremiah 14:12Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.”
- Zechariah 7:13“‘It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 20:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Ye pollute yourselves - This shows the sense in which God says, Ezekiel 20:26, "I polluted them in their own gifts." They chose to pollute themselves, and I permitted them to do so. See on Ezekiel 20:25; (note), Ezekiel 20:26; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27-31Verses 27-31 The probation in the land of Canaan from their entry to the day of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 20:27 Yet in this - It was an aggravation of their guilt that they defiled with idolatry the land given them for their glory. Ezekiel 20:29 Bamah - The Hebrew word for “high place.” Another instance of the perversion of God‘s laws. When the Israelites first entered Canaan they were to set up the “tabernacle” on a “high place,” and upon this and upon no other…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27-32Verses 27-32 The Jews persisted in rebellion after they settled in the land of Canaan. And these elders seem to have thought of uniting with the heathen. We make nothing by our profession if it be but a profession. There is nothing got by sinful compliances; and the carnal projects of hypocrites will stand them in no stead.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27-31When they reached the promised land, the people of Israel continued to speak against and betray the Lord. Their idol worship and wickedness persisted until Ezekiel's time. The Lord would not answer such unfaithful people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. through the fire--As "the fire" is omitted in Eze 20:26, Fairbairn represents the generation here referred to (namely, that of Ezekiel's day) as attaining the climax of guilt (see on Eze 20:26), in making their children pass through the fire, which that former generation did not. The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire" in Eze 20:26 is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed through the fire" for purification, whereas…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 20:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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