New Living Translation
Ezekiel 20:31
31For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves with idols to this day. Should I allow you to ask for a message from me, O people of Israel? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing.
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
29I said to them, ‘What is this high place where you are going?’ (This kind of pagan shrine has been called Bamah—‘high place’—ever since.) 30“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images? For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves with idols to this day. Should I allow you to ask for a message from me, O people of Israel? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing. 32“You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen. 33As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will rule over you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power.
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 let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 18:10For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,
- Psalms 106:37They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.
- Jeremiah 7:31They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!
- Jeremiah 19:5They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!
- Ezekiel 20:3“Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing!’
- Ezekiel 14:3“Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests?
- 1 Samuel 28:5When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear.
- 2 Kings 3:13“Why are you coming to me?” Elisha asked the king of Israel. “Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!” But King Joram of Israel said, “No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here—only to be defeated by the king of Moab!”
- Job 27:8For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?
- Psalms 66:18If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Proverbs 1:27when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you.
- Proverbs 28:9God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.
- Isaiah 1:15When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
- Jeremiah 14:12When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”
- Zechariah 7:13“Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries