Ezekiel 20:26

20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices ¹  – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire ²  – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ ³ 

Ezekiel 20:31

20:31 When you present your sacrifices ⁴  – 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, ⁵  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ⁶ 

---

¹ tn Or “gifts.”

² sn This act is prohibited in Deut 12:29-31 and Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. See also 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:10. This custom indicates that the laws the Israelites were following were the disastrous laws of pagan nations (see Ezek 16:20-21).

³ sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.

⁴ tn Or “gifts.”

⁵ tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

⁶ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”