Study Desk

"Give the people of Israel these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living in Israel. "If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death.

I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech.

And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them,

However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food.

But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father's home as in her youth, she may eat her father's food again. Otherwise, no one outside a priest's family may eat the sacred offerings.

At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors.

You may also purchase the children of temporary residents who live among you, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property,

passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat them as slaves, but you must never treat your fellow Israelites this way.

If any Israelites have not been bought back by the time the Year of Jubilee arrives, they and their children must be set free at that time.

I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children and destroy your livestock. Your numbers will dwindle, and your roads will be deserted.

But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.

‘The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.'

"‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised.

And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.

So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.

Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder.

But they approached Moses and said, "We simply want to build pens for our livestock and fortified towns for our wives and children.

Our children, wives, flocks, and cattle will stay here in the towns of Gilead.

I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it.

We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared.