Ezekiel 16:20 is God’s indictment of Jerusalem for offering its own children to idols, a practice the prophet calls worse than ordinary unfaithfulness. The verse shows that Israel’s idol worship had reached the point of destroying the very people God had given her. God speaks this charge through the prophet Ezekiel to the nation of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, during the years before the Babylonian exile.
“‘“Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter…
Ezekiel 16:20 (WEB)
What Ezekiel 16:20 Means
The verse begins with “Moreover,” which signals that God is adding another charge to a long list of offenses. The people had taken the sons and daughters born to them through their covenant relationship with the Lord, and then gave those children over as offerings to foreign gods. The phrase “to be devoured” describes the outcome: these children were burned or consumed in rites meant to win favor from idols that could neither hear nor help.
God’s question at the end, asking whether the people’s prostitution was “a small matter,” is rhetorical. The answer expected is no. The prophet uses the picture of a faithless wife to describe Israel’s worship of other gods, and here the image makes the sin feel personal and grievous. The verse does not promise anything to the reader directly. It records a judgment and shows how seriously God regards the lives He has entrusted to His people.
The Context of Ezekiel 16:20
Ezekiel 16 is one of the most vivid chapters in the prophets. God describes Jerusalem as a foundling girl whom He rescued, raised, and then married, only for her to turn to other lovers. Ezekiel was a priest taken into exile in Babylon around 597 BC, and he prophesied to the exiles and to those still in Jerusalem. The audience here is the covenant people, who knew the Law of Moses and its prohibition against child sacrifice, which Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 18:10 both address.
The verses just before this one, Ezekiel 16:17 through 19, describe the people using their jewelry, clothing, oil, and food to make idols, which shows the escalation from material devotion to deadly devotion. The verses after it, starting with Ezekiel 16:22, return to the theme of forgetting their youth and their dependence on God’s mercy. Reading the verse in this sequence shows that the child sacrifice is the peak of a long pattern, not an isolated act. It explains why the coming judgment is so severe.
Key Phrases in Ezekiel 16:20
Deuteronomy 18:10
There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer…
(WEB)
This verse forbids Israel from making a child pass through the fire, which is the very practice Ezekiel condemns. Reading it alongside Ezekiel 16:20 shows that the prophet’s charge was grounded in the Law God had already given to His people.
Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward.
(WEB)
This psalm describes children as a heritage from the Lord and a reward. It offers a positive picture of the same gift that Ezekiel’s audience had treated so carelessly, and it helps the reader see the value God places on the lives of children.
A Short Prayer From Ezekiel 16:20
Lord, you are the giver of every child and every good thing in my life. Search my heart where I have set up other gods, whether they are money, reputation, or the approval of people around me. Show me where I have been willing to sacrifice what you have entrusted to me. Help me to honor the lives and gifts you have placed in my care, and to put you first in every decision I make. Amen.
