² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.^(A) The members of the community are to stone him.^{(B) 3} I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;^(C) for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled^(D) my sanctuary^(E) and profaned my holy name.^{(F) 4} If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,^{(G) 5} I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

⁴ After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,^(A) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness^(B) of these nations^(C) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(A) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(B) the detestable god of the Ammonites.

⁷ On a hill east^(A) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh^(B) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek^(C) the detestable god of the Ammonites.

³³ I will do this because they have^[a] forsaken me and worshiped^(A) Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked^(B) in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees^(C) and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

³⁵ They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(A) to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek,^(B) though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind^(C)—that they should do such a detestable^(D) thing and so make Judah sin.^(E)

A Message About Ammon

49 Concerning the Ammonites:^(A)

This is what the Lord says: