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Psalm 106:38
They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
36They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
37Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
39Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
40Therefore the LORD burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
Notice
Sons and daughters become victims of sacrifice to Canaan’s idols, exposing the horror of worship that sheds innocent blood and leaves the land polluted.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading when the victims are named as sons and daughters?
Write on thisWhat does the polluted land tell you about the reach of this bloodshed?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
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Micah 2:10Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.Both passages describe a place marked by defilement; Micah adds that its uncleanness makes it unfit for rest.
Numbers 35:33“‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by …Both passages state that blood pollutes the land, treating bloodshed as something that stains the place where people live.
Leviticus 18:25The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants.Both passages describe the land as defiled by human wrongdoing; Leviticus also names punishment and the inhabitants’ expulsion.
Deuteronomy 21:9So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in the LORD’s eyes.Both passages name innocent blood, with Deuteronomy commanding its removal from among the people through doing what the LORD declares right.
Isaiah 26:21For, behold, the LORD comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no …Both passages connect bloodshed with the ground itself: the psalm describes polluted land, while Isaiah describes earth disclosing its slain.
2 Kings 21:16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which he made Judah to sin, …Both passages name the shedding of innocent blood, locating that violence within the history of God’s people.
2 Kings 24:4and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon.Innocent blood marks the land in the psalm and fills Jerusalem in Kings, where the LORD’s refusal to pardon is explicit.
Ezekiel 22:3You shall say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “A city that sheds blood within herself, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!Both passages join bloodshed with idols, describing defilement in the place where these acts occur.
Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.Bloodshed stains the people addressed in both passages; Isaiah describes God refusing the prayers of those whose hands are full of blood.
Jeremiah 2:34Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You didn’t find them breaking in, but it is because of all these things.Both passages identify the victims as innocent, naming children in the psalm and poor people in Jeremiah.
Isaiah 24:5The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.Both passages describe land polluted by its inhabitants’ wrongdoing: child sacrifice in the psalm and broken laws and covenant in Isaiah.
Ezekiel 7:23“‘Make chains, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.Both passages describe bloodshed as a condition affecting the land, with Ezekiel naming bloody crimes and a city full of violence.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
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Encouragement
God’s anger in the next lines falls on his people for these deeds. The children are called innocent; their deaths are recorded as evil.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).