Leviticus 20

Molech Worship and Spiritism

20The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech ^mmust be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him. ⁿ³I will turn ^oagainst that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling My sanctuary ^pand profaning My holy name. ^q4But if the people of the country look the other way when that man ^rgives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, ⁵then I will turn ^sagainst that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow ^thim in prostituting ^uthemselves with Molech.

⁶“Whoever turns to mediums ^vwor spiritists ^xand prostitutes himself with them, I will turn ^yagainst that person and cut him off from his people. ⁷Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God. ⁸Keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who sets you apart.

Family and Sexual Offenses

⁹“If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. ^zHe has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands. ^a

¹⁰If a man commits adultery ^bwith a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ¹¹If a man sleeps with his father’s wife, he has shamed his father. ^cBoth of them must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands. ^d12If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, ^eboth of them must be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is on their own hands. ^f13If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, ^gthey have both committed a detestable thing. ^hThey must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands. ⁱ¹⁴If a man marries a woman and her mother, ^jit is depraved. Both he and they must be burned with fire, ^kso that there will be no depravity among you. ¹⁵If a man has sexual intercourse with ^lan animal, he must be put to death; you are also to kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman comes near any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal. ^mThey must be put to death; their own blood is on them. ¹⁷If a man marries his sister, ⁿwhether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and they have sexual relations, ^opit is a disgrace. ^qThey must be cut off publicly from their people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister; he will bear his punishment. ¹⁸If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. ^rBoth of them must be cut off from their people. ¹⁹You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, ^sfor it is exposing one’s own blood relative; both people will bear their punishment. ²⁰If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has shamed his uncle; ^tthey will bear their guilt and die childless. ²¹If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity. ^uHe has shamed his brother; ^vthey will be childless.

Holiness in the Land

²²“You are to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. ^w23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them. ^x24And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^yI am Yahweh your God who set you apart from the peoples. ²⁵Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated ^zby any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. ^a26You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine. ^b

²⁷A man or a woman who is ^ca medium or a spiritist must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their blood is on their own hands.” ^d