Leviticus 20:1–22:33
20 Thena Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “And to the ⌊Israelites⌋b you shall say, ‘If there is ⌊anyone⌋c from the ⌊Israelites⌋d ore from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives ⌊any of⌋f his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.g 3 And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given ⌊some of⌋h his offspring to Molech, so that ⌊he makes my sanctuary unclean⌋i and profanesj ⌊my holy name⌋.k 4 And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes froml that man at his giving ⌊some of⌋m his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, 5 thenn I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech. 6 As foro the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will setp my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.
7 “ ‘And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. 8 And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh who consecrates you.
9 “ ‘If there is ⌊anyone⌋q who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father and his mother—his blood is upon him.
10 “ ‘As forr a man who commits adultery with a man’s wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man who commits adultery and the woman who commits adultery shall surely be put to death. 11 As fors a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death—their blood is on them. 12 As fort a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed a perversion—their blood is on them.
13 “ ‘As foru the man who lies with a male as lying with a woman, they have committed a detestable thing; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.
14 “ ‘As forv a man who marries a woman and her mother, that is depravity; they shall burn him and them, so that it shall not become depravity in the midst of you all.
15 “ ‘As forw a man who ⌊has sexual relations⌋x with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 As fory a woman who approaches any animal to copulate with it, you shall killz the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.
17 “ ‘As fora a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she herself sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off ⌊before⌋b the eyes of ⌊their people⌋;c he has exposed his sister’s nakedness—he must bear his guilt. 18 As ford a man who lies with a menstruating woman, he exposese her nakedness—her source he exposes and she herself reveals her blood’s source—both of them shall be cut off from the midst of their people. 19 And you shall not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, and you shall not expose your father’s sister, because such a personf has dishonored his close relative—they must bear their guilt. 20 As forg a man who lies with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness—they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 As forh a man who marries his brother’s wife, it is an abomination; he has exposed his brother’s nakedness—they shall be childless.
22 “ ‘And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so thati the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out ⌊from before you⌋,j because they did all these things, and I detested them. 24 Sok I said to you, “You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it—a land flowing with milk and honey”; I am Yahweh your God, who ⌊has set you apart⌋l from the nations. 25 And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal orm with the bird orn with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you ⌊as unclean⌋.o 26 And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.
27 “ ‘And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stonesp—their blood is on them.’ ”
Regulations Concerning Priests
21 Thena Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his own people, 2 except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, 3 and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, ⌊who has not had a husband⌋b—for her he may defile himself. 4 He must not make himself unclean as ⌊a kinsman by marriage⌋,c defiling himself.
5 “ ‘And they shall not shave bald patches on their head, and they shall not shave off the corner of their beard, and they shall not make a cut in their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire tod Yahweh—their God’s food—and they shall be holy.
7 “ ‘They shall not ⌊marry⌋e a woman who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they ⌊marry⌋f a woman divorced from her husband, because each priestg is holy for his God. 8 And you shall consecrate him, because he is bringing near your God’s food; he shall be holy to you, since I, Yahweh, who consecrates you, am holy.
9 “ ‘As forh the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father—she shall be burned in the fire.
10 “ ‘As fori the priest who is higher than his brothers, on whose head the oil of anointment is poured and ⌊he was ordained⌋j to wear the garments, he shall not dishevel his head, and he shall not tear his garments. 11 And he shall not go near any dead person, nor shall he make himself unclean for his father ork for his mother. 12 And he shall not go out from the sanctuary, and he shall not profane his God’s sanctuary, because the dedication of his God’s oil of anointment is on him; I am Yahweh.
13 “ ‘And he himself must take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow orl a divorced woman orm a defiled woman, a prostitute—these he must not take; he shall take onlyn a virgin from his people as wife. 15 And he shall not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates him.’ ”
16 Theno Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. 18 Indeed,p any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, 19 or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. 21 Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire toq Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. 22 He may eat his God’s food, from ⌊the most holy things⌋r and from the holy things. 23 But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”
24 Thuss Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the ⌊Israelites⌋.t
22 Thena Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tellb Aaron and his sonsc thatd they must deal respectfully with the ⌊Israelites⌋’e votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I am Yahweh.
3 “Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the ⌊Israelites⌋f consecrate to Yahweh withg his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut offh from ⌊before me⌋;i I am Yahweh.
4 “ ‘⌊Anyone⌋j from Aaron’s offspring, ifk he is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary ⌊until⌋l he is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out, 5 or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or who touches a person who is unclean for him ⌊due to⌋m whatever his uncleanness, 6 a person who touches such a thingn shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, excepto when he washesp his body with water 7 and ⌊the sun sets⌋,q and he shall be clean; thenr afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food. 8 He shall not eat a naturally dead body ors a mangled carcass, ⌊so that he becomes unclean⌋t by it; I am Yahweh.
9 “ ‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so thatu they die through it, because they have profaned it; I am Yahweh who consecrates them.
10 “ ‘⌊No stranger shall eat⌋v the votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident withw a priest orx a hired worker eat the votive offering. 11 Buty a priest, if with his money he buys a person as ⌊his possession⌋,z that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food. 12 And a priest’s daughter, when ⌊she marries a layman⌋,a she herself may not eat ⌊the votive offering⌋.b 13 Butc a priest’s daughter, when she becomes a widow ord divorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her childhood, she may eat from her father’s food, bute ⌊no layman may eat it⌋.f 14 And if a man …