Ezekiel 16:20

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,

Cross-reference

Ezekiel 16:36 returns to the child sacrifice from verse 20 — 'the blood of your children' — linking both passages in the same extended allegory.

Ezekiel 16:36 restates the charge including 'blood of your children' — a direct echo within the same prophecy.

Ezekiel 23:37 directly echoes the language of Ezekiel 16:20, charging them with sacrificing the children they bore to God.

Ezekiel 23:37 repeats the phrase 'children they had borne to me' and accuses them of offering these children to idols, identical to Ezekiel 16:20.

Ezekiel 20:31 condemns making sons pass through the fire, a direct parallel to the child sacrifice in Ezekiel 16:20.

Ezekiel 20:26 says God gave them over to defile themselves by offering firstborn, directly paralleling the child sacrifice in Ezekiel 16:20.

Ezekiel 23:4 uses the same metaphor of children born to God, introducing Samaria and Jerusalem as sisters who bear sons and daughters, echoing the violated covenant.

Isaiah 57:5 Parallel

Isaiah 57:5 describes slaying children under green trees — another prophetic witness to the same practice.

Micah 6:7 Related theme

Micah 6:7 rhetorically asks if giving the firstborn is required, showing the mindset that led to such sacrifices.

Jeremiah 32:35 links this sacrifice to Molech in the Valley of Hinnom, giving the specific idol.

Jeremiah 7:31 names Tophet in the Valley of Hinnom where they burned sons and daughters — the same sin.

Psalm 106:38 adds that this shed innocent blood of children, emphasizing the violence and guilt.

Psalm 106:37 explicitly states they sacrificed sons and daughters to demons, identifying the spiritual source of this evil.

In 2 Chronicles 33:6, Manasseh likewise caused his children to pass through fire in the Valley of Hinnom.

In 2 Kings 16:3, King Ahaz also sacrificed his son by fire — a specific historical instance of this abomination.

Exodus 13:2 Contrast

Exodus 13:2 commands consecration of all firstborn to God, contrasting with Israel's sacrifice of them to idols in Ezekiel 16:20.

Jeremiah 19:5 explicitly condemns burning sons as offerings to Baal — the same practice in Ezekiel 16:20.

2 Chronicles 28:3 recounts Ahaz burning his sons as offerings — the same sin God accuses Jerusalem of here.

Leviticus 20:2 prescribes death for giving children to Molech — the very practice Ezekiel 16:20 condemns.

Genesis 17:7 establishes God's covenant with Abraham and his offspring, showing the children in Ezekiel 16:20 are covenant heirs, making their sacrifice a betrayal.

Exodus 13:12 reinforces setting apart firstborn to the Lord, directly opposing the child sacrifice described in Ezekiel 16:20.

Deuteronomy 29:12 describes entering the covenant, underscoring that the children were included in God's sworn relationship, violated by sacrifice.

Deuteronomy 29:11 includes little ones in the covenant assembly, highlighting that the sacrificed children were part of God's covenant people.