In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
Parallel translations
- WEB I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
- KJV But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
- NKJV “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
- NASB “Instead, I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
- NLT “Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God warned the children not to follow the sinful ways and idols of their rebellious fathers. Each generation faced a fresh call to faithfulness.
Overview
The Lord urged the new generation to break with the pattern of their parents' disobedience. The warning shows that covenant privilege does not guarantee faithfulness; each generation must respond to God for itself. It underscores the danger of inherited sin and the constant need to choose obedience over the well-worn paths of rebellion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Ezek 20:7And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
- Zech 1:2–4“The LORD was very angry with your fathers.
- 1 Pet 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Deut 4:3–6Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.
- Ps 78:6–8that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children
- Num 32:13–15The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.
- Num 14:32–33As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
- Luke 11:47–48Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them.
- Jer 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
- Jer 3:9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 20:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.