³ Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire.^[a] In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.

¹⁷ They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire.^[a] They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.

³¹ They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!

²⁰ No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons.

³⁷ They have committed both adultery and murder—adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me.

²⁶ I let them pollute themselves^[a] with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the Lord.

²⁰ “Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹ Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?