The end of chapter 12 gives us a sobering reference. It says,

“When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, 30 do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ 31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.

32 “So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.

It’s really hard to know what to say about vs31. They would burn their sons and daughters.

God is a God of love, a God who values human life and won’t stand for that life to be murdered. Murder is a high crime in the sight of God. It’s easy to look at the Old Testament and get fixated on all of the death and loss of life, through animal sacrifice, and city raids and military offensives. But here we get a glimpse of what is really taking place in the land of Canaan. These are Godless people who have given themselves over to not just their gods, but to evil. It is evil to sacrifice humans, and especially children. There is no other word for it, it is evil.

Their customs, practices, and every false and evil god they stand for MUST be wiped from the earth.