“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.
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:
- BSB 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.
- 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 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Ezek 20:7I said to them, ‘Each of you throw away the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’
- Zech 1:2–4“Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.
- 1 Pet 1:18knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers,
- Deut 4:3–6Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you.
- Ps 78:6–8that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
- Num 32:13–15Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in Yahweh’s sight, was consumed.
- Num 14:32–33But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
- Luke 11:47–48Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
- Jer 2:7I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
- Jer 3:9Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.
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.