Deuteronomy 12:31

The NET Bible®

You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! For everything that is abhorrent to him, everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
You shall not do thus toward Yahweh your God, for every abominable act which Yahweh hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nay, thou shalt not do so vnto the Lorde thy God: for all abhominations, and that whiche the Lorde hateth, the same haue they done vnto their gods.

Easy-to-Read Version
Don't do that to the Lord your God! These people do all kinds of bad things that the Lord hates. They even burn their children as sacrifices to their gods!

Revised Standard Version
You shall not do so to the LORD your God; for every abominable thing which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

World English Bible
You shall not do so to Yahweh your God: for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

King James Version (1611)
Thou shalt not doe so vnto the Lord thy God: for euery abomination to the Lord which hee hateth, haue they done vnto their gods: for euen their sonnes and their daughters they haue burnt in the fire to their gods.

King James Version
Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord , which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt not do so vnto the LORDE thy God. For all that is abhominacion vnto the LORDE, & that he hateth, ye same haue they done vnto their goddes. For they haue burnt euen their sonnes and their doughters with fyre vnto their goddes.

American Standard Version
Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

Bible in Basic English
Do not so to the Lord your God: for everything which is disgusting to the Lord and hated by him they have done in honour of their gods: even burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Update Bible Version
You shall not do so to Yahweh your God: for every disgusting thing to Yahweh, which he hates, they have done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt not do so to the LORD thy God; for every abomination to the LORD which he hateth have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

New King James Version
You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Contemporary English Version
No, you should not! The Lord hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods, because they even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices.

Complete Jewish Bible
You must not do this to Adonai your God! For they have done to their gods all the abominations that Adonai hates! They even burn up their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods!

Darby Translation
Thou shalt not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every [thing that is] abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burned in the fire to their gods.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt not doe so vnto the Lorde thy God: for al abomination, which the Lord hateth, haue they done vnto their gods: for they haue burned both their sonnes and their daughters with fire to their gods.

George Lamsa Translation
You shall not do so to the LORD your God; for every thing abominable to the LORD, which he hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Good News Translation
Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Amplified Bible
"You shall not behave this way toward the LORD your God, for they have done for their gods every repulsive thing which the LORD hates; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [as sacrifices] to their gods.

Hebrew Names Version
You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God; for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

New Living Translation
You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.

New Life Bible
Do not act this way toward the Lord your God. For they have done for their gods every sinful act which the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

New Revised Standard
You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Thou shalt not do so to thy God; for they have sacrificed to their gods the abominations of the Lord which he hates, for they burn their sons and their daughters in fire to their gods.

English Revised Version
Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

Berean Standard Bible
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thou shalt not do likewise unto Yahweh thy God, - for everything that is an abomination unto Yahweh which he doth hate, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters, do they consume with fire unto their gods.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

Lexham English Bible
You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

Literal Translation
You shall not do so to Jehovah your God; for everything hateful to Jehovah, which He detests, they have done to their gods. For they have even burned their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

English Standard Version
You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

New American Standard Bible
"You shall not behave this way toward the LORD your God, because every abominable act which the LORD hates, they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

New Century Version
Don't worship the Lord your God that way, because the Lord hates the evil ways they worship their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods!

Christian Standard Bible®
You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou schalt not do in lijk manere to thi Lord God; for thei diden to her goddis alle abhomynaciouns whiche the Lord wlatith, and offriden her sones and douytris, and brenten with fier.

Young's Literal Translation
`Thou dost not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every abomination of Jehovah which He is hating they have done to their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they burn with fire to their gods.

Contextual Overview

⁵ But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there. ⁶ And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ Both you and your families must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you. ⁸ You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone doing what seems best to him, ⁹ for you have not yet come to the final stop and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ When you do go across the Jordan River and settle in the land he is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. ¹¹ Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing everything I am commanding you—your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. ¹² You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). ¹³ Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, ¹⁴ for you may do so only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas—there you may do everything I am commanding you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thou: Deuteronomy 12:4, Deuteronomy 18:9, Exodus 23:2, Leviticus 18:3, Leviticus 18:26-30, 2 Kings 17:15-17, 2 Kings 21:2, 2 Chronicles 33:2, 2 Chronicles 36:14

abomination to the: Heb. abomination of the

even their sons: The unnatural and horrid practice of offering human sacrifices not only existed, but universally prevailed among ancient nations. We have already - See note on Leviticus 20:2 referred to the custom among the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, descendants from the Canaanitish nations, of sacrificing their children to Moloch, or Saturn; and we will now cite a passage from Diodorus Siculus - lib. xx. which immediately precedes that already produced relative to this barbarous custom. He states that the Carthaginians imputed their being besieged by Agathocles to the anger of Saturn, because, instead of sacrificing the best of their own children, as formerly, they had sacrificed children bought for that purpose. "In haste, therefore, to rectify their errors, they chose 200 of the noblest children, and publicly sacrificed them! Others, accused of irreligion, voluntarily gave themselves up, to the number of no less than 300!" Deuteronomy 18:10, Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:2, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 32:35, Ezekiel 20:31, Ezekiel 23:27, Micah 6:7

Reciprocal: Exodus 8:26 - we shall Exodus 23:24 - do after Leviticus 18:24 - for Leviticus 20:23 - in the manners Numbers 33:52 - General Deuteronomy 7:16 - for that will Deuteronomy 9:4 - for the wickedness Deuteronomy 16:22 - which Deuteronomy 20:18 - General Judges 11:39 - did with 1 Kings 21:26 - according to 2 Kings 3:27 - offered him 2 Kings 16:3 - made his son 2 Kings 17:8 - walked 2 Kings 17:31 - burnt their children 2 Chronicles 28:3 - after the abominations 2 Chronicles 33:6 - caused Ezra 9:1 - doing according Ezra 9:11 - The land Psalms 53:1 - have done Psalms 74:20 - the dark Psalms 106:37 - they sacrificed Jeremiah 10:2 - Learn Jeremiah 19:5 - to burn Ezekiel 11:12 - but Ezekiel 16:45 - that loatheth Ezekiel 23:37 - have also 1 Peter 4:3 - to have

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God,.... Not serve and worship him after the manner of the Gentiles, nor introduce their rites and customs into his service, used by them in the worship of their gods:

for every abomination which he hateth have they done unto their gods; as murder, adultery, c. which God has expressed his aversion to, and indignation at one instance of the former sort is given here:

for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods; not only men have they sacrificed to them, but such near relations; and not only caused them to pass through the fire, but burnt them in it; so the Carthaginians are said to do, who learned this inhuman practice from the Phoenicians; they were a colony of the inhabitants of this land of Canaan. Of the Phoenicians Porphyry says i, that in great calamities, as war or pestilence, they sacrificed to Saturn some one of those that were dearest to them, appointed by suffrage. The Phoenician history, adds he, is full of such sacrifices, which Sanchoniatho wrote in the Phoenician language; and Curtius says k, this custom of sacrificing a fine boy to Saturn was received by the Carthaginians from their founders (the Tyrians and Phoenicians), and which they continued even to the destruction of their city.

i De Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 56. k Hist. l. 4. c. 3.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 12:31. Their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire — Almost all the nations in the world agreed in offering human victims to their gods on extraordinary occasions, by which it is evident that none of those nations had any right notion of the Divine nature. How necessary, then, was the volume of revelation, to teach men what that religion is with which God can be well pleased! The Hindoos to this day offer human victims to their goddess Cali, and at the temple of Jaggernaut; and yet, notwithstanding this, there are found certain persons who, while they profess Christianity, are absolutely unwilling to send the Hindoos the Gospel of Christ, because they think it would not be politically wise! But the wisdom of this world has ever been foolishness with God; and in spite of all this infidel policy, the word of the Lord shall have free course and be glorified.