Jeremiah 19:5 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.

◄ 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:

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.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

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

Berean Study Bible

They have built high places to Baal
The phrase "They have built high places to Baal" refers to the construction of elevated sites dedicated to the Canaanite god Baal. In the Hebrew context, "high places" (Hebrew: "bamot") were often used for worship and sacrifices, sometimes to Yahweh, but frequently to pagan deities. The worship of Baal was a significant issue in Israel's history, representing a departure from the worship of the one true God. Baal was associated with fertility and storms, and his worship often included immoral practices. The building of these high places signifies a deliberate choice by the Israelites to turn away from God and adopt the idolatrous practices of surrounding nations, which was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law.

to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal
This phrase highlights one of the most abhorrent practices associated with Baal worship: child sacrifice. The act of burning children as offerings is a stark violation of God's commandments and a profound moral corruption. The Hebrew word for "burn" (Hebrew: "saraph") indicates a complete destruction by fire, emphasizing the totality of the sacrifice. This practice was not only a physical atrocity but also a spiritual abomination, as it represented the ultimate perversion of parental love and divine worship. Historically, such practices were known in the ancient Near East, particularly among the Canaanites, and were explicitly condemned in the Torah (e.g., Leviticus 18:21).

something I never commanded or mentioned
Here, God is making it clear that such practices were never part of His instructions or desires for His people. The Hebrew word for "commanded" (Hebrew: "tsavah") implies a direct order or decree, which God emphatically denies ever giving regarding child sacrifice. This underscores the idea that the Israelites' actions were not only sinful but also entirely outside the scope of God's revealed will. The phrase "or mentioned" (Hebrew: "dabar") suggests that such practices were not even hinted at in God's communications with His people, highlighting the complete disconnect between God's holy nature and the abominable acts being committed.

nor did it ever enter My mind
This phrase is a powerful expression of God's utter abhorrence and rejection of the practice of child sacrifice. The Hebrew concept here (literally "nor did it come up in My heart") indicates that such an idea was so foreign to God's nature that it was inconceivable. This statement serves to emphasize the vast chasm between God's righteous character and the sinful actions of the people. It also reflects God's deep sorrow and anger over the betrayal of His covenant relationship with Israel. Theologically, this phrase reassures believers of God's consistent and unchanging nature, which is fundamentally opposed to evil and injustice.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(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.

Pulpit Commentary

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.)