²⁶ I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice^(A) of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.^(B)’

⁷ Your people will fall slain^(A) among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.^(B)

²¹ “‘Do not give any of your children^(A) to be sacrificed to Molek,^(B) for you must not profane the name of your God.^(C) I am the Lord.^(D)

³¹ When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children^(A) in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.^(B)

²⁰ “‘And you took your sons and daughters^(A) whom you bore to me^(B) and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?^{(C) 21} You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.^(D)

¹⁷ They sacrificed^(A) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens^(B) and sold^(C) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

⁷ What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.^(A) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,^{(B) 8} as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[a]),^(A)