Jeremiah 19:5
New International Version
They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.

New Living Translation
They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!

English Standard Version
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—

Berean Standard Bible
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.

King James Bible
They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

New King James Version
(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind),

New American Standard Bible
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I did not command nor speak of, nor did it ever enter My mind;

NASB 1995
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind;

NASB 1977
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind;

Legacy Standard Bible
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever come upon My heart,

Amplified Bible
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind (heart);

Christian Standard Bible
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.

American Standard Version
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

English Revised Version
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They have built worship sites to burn their children as sacrifices to Baal. I didn't ask them or command them to do this. It never entered my mind.

Good News Translation
and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.

International Standard Version
They built the high places for Baal to burn their children in the fire as a burnt offering to Baal—something I didn't command, didn't say, nor did it ever enter my mind!

Majority Standard Bible
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal?something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.

NET Bible
They have built places here for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

New Heart English Bible
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I did not command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:

Webster's Bible Translation
They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:

World English Bible
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn’t command, nor speak, which didn’t even enter into my mind.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and have built the high places of Ba‘al to burn their sons with fire, burnt-offerings to Ba‘al, that I did not command, nor spoke of, nor did it come up on My heart.

Young's Literal Translation
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire, burnt-offerings to Baal, that I commanded not, nor spake of, nor did it come up on My heart.

Smith's Literal Translation
And they built the heights of Baal to burn their sons with fire, burnt-offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, and I spake not, and it came not up upon my heart.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they have built the high places of Baalim, to burn their children with fire for a holocaust to Baalim: which I did not command, nor speak of, neither did it once come into my mind.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And they have built the exalted places of Baal, in order to burn their children with fire as a holocaust to Baal, something that I did not instruct or speak of, nor did it enter into my heart.

New American Bible
building high places for Baal to burn their children in fire as offerings to Baal—something I never considered or said or commanded.

New Revised Standard Version
and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
They have built also the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command; nor did I speak of it, neither came it into my mind;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they built high places to Baal to burn their children in a burning fire to Baal, that I have not commanded, neither have I spoken, nor did I bring to my heart
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and built high places for Baal, to burn their children in the fire, which things I commanded not, neither did I design them in my heart:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Broken Jar
4because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal— something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind. 6So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.…

Cross References
Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 12:31
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

2 Kings 23:10
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

2 Chronicles 28:3
Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Chronicles 33:6
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Psalm 106:37-38
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. / They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

Isaiah 57:5
who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

Ezekiel 16:20-21
You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? / You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

Ezekiel 20:31
When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

Ezekiel 23:37
For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.

Micah 6:7
Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Acts 7:43
You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

Romans 1:28-32
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. / They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, / slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. ...

1 Corinthians 10:20-21
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. / You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.


Treasury of Scripture

They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:

the high.

Numbers 22:41
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

to burn.

Jeremiah 7:31
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

Deuteronomy 12:31
Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

2 Kings 17:17
And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

which.

Jeremiah 7:31,32
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart…

Jeremiah 32:35
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Leviticus 18:21
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

neither.

Ezekiel 38:10
Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

Daniel 2:29
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

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Jeremiah 19
1. Under the type of breaking a potter's vessel, is foreshown the desolation of the Jews














They have built high places to Baal
High places were elevated sites often used for worship in ancient Israel and surrounding regions. These locations were typically associated with pagan rituals and idolatry, contrary to the worship of Yahweh. Baal was a prominent Canaanite deity, often associated with fertility and storms. The Israelites' adoption of Baal worship reflects a significant departure from their covenant with God, as seen in Judges 2:11-13, where Israel repeatedly falls into idolatry. The construction of high places indicates a formal and organized effort to integrate Baal worship into their religious practices, directly violating the first commandment (Exodus 20:3).

on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—
Child sacrifice was a horrific practice associated with some ancient Near Eastern religions, including the worship of Baal and Molech. This act was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 18:21, Deuteronomy 12:31). The burning of children as offerings signifies the depth of Israel's apostasy and moral decline. Archaeological evidence from sites like Carthage suggests that child sacrifice was indeed practiced in the ancient world, providing a grim backdrop to the biblical narrative. This practice is a stark contrast to the character of God, who values life and abhors such abominations.

something I never commanded or mentioned,
God's laws and commands, as given through Moses, never included or implied the need for human sacrifice. This phrase emphasizes the complete divergence of these practices from God's will. In Deuteronomy 18:10, God explicitly condemns such acts. The mention of God's lack of command or mention highlights the Israelites' deviation from divine instruction and underscores the gravity of their sin. It also serves as a reminder of God's consistent character, which is life-affirming and just.

nor did it even enter My mind.
This expression underscores the utter foreignness of such practices to God's nature and intentions. It emphasizes that the idea of child sacrifice is so abhorrent that it is inconceivable to God. This phrase serves to highlight the contrast between the holiness of God and the depravity of the people's actions. It also reflects the prophetic tradition of calling Israel back to the true worship of Yahweh, as seen in the messages of prophets like Isaiah and Hosea, who often spoke against idolatry and injustice. This statement reinforces the idea that God's ways are higher than human ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and that His plans are for life and not destruction.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and judgment to the people of Judah. He is known for his lamentations over the spiritual state of the nation.

2. Baal
A Canaanite deity often associated with fertility and weather. Worship of Baal was prevalent among the Israelites, despite God's commands against idolatry.

3. High Places
Elevated sites where idolatrous worship, including child sacrifice, was conducted. These were often condemned by the prophets as places of apostasy.

4. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was often rebuked by prophets for its idolatry and disobedience to God.

5. Child Sacrifice
A heinous practice adopted from surrounding pagan cultures, explicitly condemned by God. It represents the extreme moral and spiritual decline of the people.
Teaching Points
The Sanctity of Life
God values human life, and the practice of child sacrifice is a grave sin. This underscores the importance of protecting and valuing life at all stages.

Idolatry's Consequences
Idolatry leads to moral decay and separation from God. We must guard our hearts against modern forms of idolatry that can lead us away from Him.

God's Unchanging Nature
God’s commands and His nature are consistent. He never condones sin, and His standards of holiness remain the same.

Repentance and Reform
Like King Josiah, we are called to identify and remove sin from our lives, turning back to God with sincere repentance.

Listening to God's Word
Jeremiah's warnings remind us of the importance of heeding God's Word and the consequences of ignoring His commands.(5) The high places of Baal.--Baal, as in Jeremiah 2:23, is identified with Molech, and the terms in which the guilt of the people and its punishment are described are all but identical with those of Jeremiah 7:31-32. The fact that such sacrifices were offered is indicated in Psalm 106:37-38.

Verse 5. - Baal. This seems to be used loosely for Moloch (comp. on Jeremiah 2:8).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They have built
וּבָנ֞וּ (ū·ḇā·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1129: To build

high places
בָּמ֣וֹת (bā·mō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 1116: An elevation

to Baal
הַבַּ֗עַל (hab·ba·‘al)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1168: Baal -- a heathen god

on which to burn
לִשְׂרֹ֧ף (liś·rōp̄)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

their children
בְּנֵיהֶ֛ם (bə·nê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

in the fire
בָּאֵ֖שׁ (bā·’êš)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire

as offerings
עֹל֣וֹת (‘ō·lō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5930: Whole burnt offering

to Baal—
לַבָּ֑עַל (lab·bā·‘al)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1168: Baal -- a heathen god

something
אֲשֶׁ֤ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

I never
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

commanded
צִוִּ֙יתִי֙ (ṣiw·wî·ṯî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 6680: To lay charge (upon), give charge (to), command, order

or mentioned,
דִבַּ֔רְתִּי (ḏib·bar·tî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

nor
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

did it [ever] enter
עָלְתָ֖ה (‘ā·lə·ṯāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

My mind.
לִבִּֽי׃ (lib·bî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 19:5 And have built the high places (Jer.)
Jeremiah 19:4
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