Ezekiel 16:20

Bishop's Bible

Thou hast taken thyne owne sonnes and daughters whom thou hast begotten vnto me, and these hast thou offred vp vnto them to be deuoured: is this but a small whordome of thyne?

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
"You and I had children together, but you took our children. You killed them and gave them to those false gods! But that is only some of the evil things you did when you were unfaithful to me and went to those false gods.

New Living Translation
"Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough?

New American Standard Bible
"Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter?

New Century Version
"‘But your sexual sins were not enough for you. You also took your sons and daughters who were my children, and you sacrificed them to the idols as food.

New English Translation
"‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,

Update Bible Version
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these you have sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitutions a small matter,

Webster's Bible Translation
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy lewdness a small matter,

Amplified Bible
"Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter?

English Standard Version
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter

World English Bible
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thou tokist thi sones and thi douytris, whiche thou gendridist to me, and offridist to tho, for to be deuourid. Whether thi fornicacioun is litil?

English Revised Version
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,

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

Contemporary English Version
But you did something even worse than that—you sacrificed your own children to those idols!

American Standard Version
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,

Bible in Basic English
And you took your sons and your daughters whom I had by you, offering even these to them to be their food. Was your loose behaviour so small a thing,

Complete Jewish Bible
"‘Moreover, your sons and daughters, whom you bore me, you took and sacrificed for them to devour. Were these fornications of yours a casual matter? —

Darby Translation
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,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 harlotries a small matter,

King James Version (1611)
Moreouer thou hast taken thy sonnes and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne vnto me, and these hast thou sacrificed vnto them to be deuoured: is this of thy whoredomes a small matter,

New Life Bible
"You even took your sons and daughters whom you had given birth for Me, and gave them to the false gods to be destroyed. Were your sex sins too little?

New Revised Standard
You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your whorings were not enough!

Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer thou hast taken thy sonnes and thy daughters, whome thou hast borne vnto me, and these hast thou sacrificed vnto them, to be deuoured: is this thy whoredome a small matter?

George Lamsa Translation
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you have sacrificed to them for food. These things you did besides your whoredoms,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, Whom thou hadst borne unto me, And didst sacrifice them unto them to be devoured,- Is this of thine unchastity. a light thing?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou hast taken thy sons, and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me: and hast sacrificed the same to them to be devoured. Is thy fornication small?

Revised Standard Version
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou tookest thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou borest, land didst sacrifice these to them to be destroyed. Thou didst go a-whoring as if that were little,

Good News Translation
"Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me,

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘You even took your sons and daughters you bore to me and sacrificed them to these images as food. Wasn’t your prostitution enough?

Hebrew Names Version
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter,

King James Version
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,

Lexham English Bible
‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten, as if your whorings were not enough.

Literal Translation
And you have taken your sons and your daughters whom you have borne to Me, and you sacrificed these to them for food. Are your fornications small?

Young's Literal Translation
And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou hast take thine owne sonnes & doughters, whom thou haddest begotten vnto me: and these hast thou offred vp vnto them, to be their meate. Is this but a small whordome of thine (thinkest thou)

THE MESSAGE
"‘And then you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had given birth to as my children, and you killed them, sacrificing them to idols. Wasn't it bad enough that you had become a whore? And now you're a murderer, killing my children and sacrificing them to idols.

New King James Version
"Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter?

Legacy Standard Bible
"Moreover, you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter?

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ But thou hast put thy confidence in thyne owne beautie, and played the harlot because of thy renowne, and hast powred out thy fornications with euery one that went by, thou wast his. ¹⁶ Thou didst take thy garmentes, and deckt thy hye places with diuers colours, and played the harlot thervpon, they come not, and it shall not be. ¹⁷ The goodly iewels whiche I gaue thee of mine owne golde and siluer, hast thou taken and made thee mens images therof, and committed whordome with them. ¹⁸ Thy broidred garmentes hast thou taken, and deckt them therewith: myne oyle and incense hast thou set before them. ¹⁹ My meate whiche I gaue thee, as fine floure, oyle and hony to feede the withall, that hast thou set before them for a sweete sauour: and thus it was saith the Lorde God. ²⁰ Thou hast taken thyne owne sonnes and daughters whom thou hast begotten vnto me, and these hast thou offred vp vnto them to be deuoured: is this but a small whordome of thyne? ²¹ And thou hast slayne my chyldren, and deliuered them, to cause them to passe [through the fire] for them. ²² And yet in all thyne abhominations and whordomes, thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth, howe naked and bare thou wast at that tyme, and wast defiled in thyne owne blood. ²³ After all these thy wickednesses, (wo wo vnto thee, saith the Lorde God.) ²⁴ Thou hast buylt vnto thee an hye place, and hast made thee an hye place in euery streete.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thy sons: Ezekiel 16:21, Ezekiel 23:4, Genesis 17:7, Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:12, Deuteronomy 29:11, Deuteronomy 29:12

and these: Ezekiel 20:26, Ezekiel 20:31, Ezekiel 23:37, Ezekiel 23:39, 2 Kings 16:3, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Psalms 106:37, Psalms 106:38, Isaiah 57:5, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 32:35, Micah 6:7

be devoured: Heb. devour

Is this: Ezekiel 8:17, Jeremiah 2:34, Jeremiah 2:35

Reciprocal: Leviticus 20:2 - giveth 1 Kings 16:31 - as if it had been a light thing 2 Kings 3:27 - offered him 2 Chronicles 28:3 - burnt Ecclesiastes 7:17 - not Isaiah 7:13 - Is it a small Jeremiah 19:5 - to burn Ezekiel 16:36 - and by Ezekiel 16:38 - shed Ezekiel 16:45 - that loatheth Ezekiel 23:20 - General Ezekiel 34:18 - a small Hosea 2:2 - let John 8:41 - we have

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters,.... Their own flesh and blood; which were more than to take their clothes, and cover their idols with them, and their food, and set it before them to part with them was much, but to part with these, and that in such a shocking manner as after mentioned, was so irrational and unnatural, as well as impious and wicked, as is not to be paralleled; and what increased their wickedness was, that these were not only their own, but the Lord's:

whom thou hast borne unto me; for, though they were born of them, they were born unto the Lord, the Creator of them, the Father of their spirits, and God of their lives, and who had the sole right to dispose of them; nor was it in the power of their parents to take away their life at pleasure; for the Lord only has the sovereign power of life and death:

and these hast thou sacrificed unto them: the male images before mentioned; one of which was Molech, who is here particularly designed:

to be devoured; in the arms of that image; or to be consumed by fire, in which they were burnt, when sacrificed unto it. The Targum is,

"for oblation and worship;''

[is this] of thy whoredoms a small matter; which was so dreadfully heinous and inhuman, yet by some reckoned a small matter; this was not the least of their idolatries, but, of all, the most shocking, and the most aggravated: or the sense is, is it a small thing that thou shouldest play the harlot, or worship idols? is it not enough for thee to do so, but thou must sacrifice thy children also to them? and which are not only thine, but mine, as follows:

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Borne unto me - me is emphatic. The children of Yahweh have been devoted to Moloch. The rites of Moloch were twofold;

(1) The actual sacrifice of men and children as expiatory sacrifices to, false gods.

(2) The passing of them through the fire by way of purification and dedication.

Probably the first is alluded to in Ezekiel 16:20; the two rites together in Ezekiel 16:21.