Ezekiel 20:16
Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
Cross-reference
In Ezekiel 20:14, God spares Israel for His name's sake, contrasting with the rebellion described in verse 16 — mercy despite sin.
In Ezekiel 20:13, the same rebellion is described earlier in the chapter — despising judgments, polluting sabbaths — establishing the pattern that verse 16 reiterates.
In Ezekiel 20:8, the same rebellion occurs in Egypt — refusing to abandon idols — paralleling the wilderness rebellion in verse 16.
Ezekiel 20:24 restates the same charges: rejecting decrees and desecrating Sabbaths.
Ezekiel 14:4 describes taking idols into the heart — the same internal idolatry that explains the wilderness rebellion in Ezekiel 20:16.
In Ezekiel 14:3, elders set up 'idols in their heart', directly echoing the heart-idolatry of verse 16 — internal rebellion against God.
Ezekiel 11:12 also condemns Israel for not following God's decrees but adopting pagan standards.
Acts 7:39-43 quotes Amos 5:25-27, explicitly tying wilderness idolatry to hearts turning to Egypt — same sin as Ezekiel 20:16.
Amos 5:26 names specific star idols carried in the wilderness — the very idols Ezekiel 20:16 says their heart went after.
Numbers 25:2 records Israel bowing to Moabite gods — another wilderness idolatry event that Ezekiel 20:16 references generically.
Numbers 15:39 commands not to follow your heart after whoredom — exactly what Ezekiel 20:16 says they did, providing the law they broke.
Exodus 32:1-8 recounts the golden calf — the specific idolatry that Ezekiel 20:16 summarizes as heart going after idols.
Jeremiah 17:23 repeats the theme of stiff-necked disobedience and ignoring discipline.
Jeremiah 7:24 describes Israel's stubborn hearts and refusal to listen, echoing the same rebellion.
Amos 2:4 indicts Judah for rejecting the law and following false gods, matching this verse.
Exodus 31:14 commands Sabbath observance — the law that Ezekiel 20:16 says they profaned in the wilderness.
Exodus 16:28 records God's rebuke for refusing his commandments — the disobedience that Ezekiel 20:16 attributes to the wilderness generation.