Ezekiel 20:18-26

Contemporary English Version

¹⁸ So I warned the children not to act like their parents or follow their evil ways or worship their idols. ¹⁹ I reminded them that I was the Lord their God and that they should obey my laws and teachings. ²⁰ I told them to respect my Sabbath to show that they were my people and that I was the Lord their God. ²¹ But the children also rebelled against me. They refused to obey my laws and teachings, and they treated the Sabbath as any other day.

I became angry and decided to punish them in the desert. ²² But I did not. That would have disgraced me in front of the nations that had seen me bring the Israelites out of Egypt. ^23 (A) So I solemnly swore that I would scatter the people of Israel across the nations, ²⁴ because they had disobeyed my laws and ignored my teachings; they had disgraced my Sabbath and worshiped the idols their ancestors had made. ²⁵ I gave them laws that bring punishment instead of life, ²⁶ and I let them offer me unacceptable sacrifices, including their first-born sons. I did this to horrify them and to let them know that I, the Lord, was punishing them.