Jeremiah 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ¹  the gods called Baal, ²  as their fathers ³  taught them to do.

Jeremiah 19:5

19:5 They have built places here ⁴  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ⁵  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!

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¹ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

² tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

³ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

⁴ tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.