Leviticus 18–20

CHAPTER 18

Statutes on the Nakedness of Relatives

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aI am Yahweh your God.

³‘You shall not do according to what is ^adone in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is ^bdone in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

⁴‘You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; ^aI am Yahweh your God.

⁵‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^awhich if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

⁶‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ¹of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh.

⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness.

⁸‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.

⁹‘^aThe nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

¹⁰‘The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for ¹their nakedness is yours.

¹¹‘The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ¹born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹²‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

¹³‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

¹⁴‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

¹⁵‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is ¹lewdness.

¹⁸‘And you shall not ¹marry a woman in addition to ²her sister ³as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹‘^aAlso you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^bmenstrual impurity.

²⁰‘^aAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

²¹‘And you shall not give any of your seed ^ato pass them over to Molech, nor shall you ^bprofane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

²²‘^aAnd you shall not lie with a male as ¹one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

²³‘^aAlso you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ¹mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^athe nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.

²⁵‘So the land has become defiled, ^aand I have brought its ¹punishment upon it. And the land ^bhas vomited out its inhabitants.

²⁶‘But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you

²⁷(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled);

²⁸so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you.

²⁹‘For whoever does any of these abominations, ¹those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.

³⁰‘Thus you are to keep ^aMy charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^bI am Yahweh your God.’”

CHAPTER 19

Yahweh Is Holy

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

²“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aYou shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.

³‘Every one of you ^ashall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep ^bMy sabbaths; ^cI am Yahweh your God.

⁴‘Do not turn to ^aidols or make for yourselves molten ^bgods; I am Yahweh your God.

⁵‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

⁶‘It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire.

⁷‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted.

⁸‘And everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Statutes

⁹‘^aNow when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.

¹⁰‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the afflicted and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.

¹¹‘^aYou shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^bnor lie to one another.

¹²‘^aAnd you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to ^bprofane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

¹³‘^aYou shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. ^bThe wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning.

¹⁴‘You shall not curse a deaf man nor ^aplace a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

¹⁵‘^aYou shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.

¹⁶‘You shall not go about as ^aa slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the ^1blife of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.

¹⁷‘You ^ashall not hate your brother in your heart; you ^bmay surely reprove your neighbor, and so not bear sin because of him.

¹⁸‘^aYou shall not take vengeance, ^band you shall not keep your anger against the sons of your people, but ^cyou shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.

¹⁹‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; ^ayou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

²⁰‘^aNow if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free.

²¹‘And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, ^aa ram for a guilt offering.

²²‘The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

²³‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as ¹forbidden. Three years it shall be ²forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

²⁴‘But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh.

²⁵‘Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.

²⁶‘You shall not eat anything ^awith the blood nor interpret ^bomens or soothsaying.

²⁷‘^aYou shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.

²⁸‘And you shall not make any cuts in your ¹body for the ²dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am Yahweh.

²⁹‘^aDo not ¹profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness.

³⁰‘You shall ^akeep My sabbaths and ^bfear My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³¹‘Do not turn to ^1amediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

³²‘^aYou shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the ¹aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

³³‘^aAnd when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.

³⁴‘The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ^ayou shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

³⁵‘^aYou shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume.

³⁶‘You shall have ^1ajust balances, ²just weights, a ³just ⁴ephah, and a ⁵just ⁶hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

³⁷‘You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’”

CHAPTER 20

Set Yourselves Apart as Holy

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the sojourners sojourning in Israel ^awho gives any of his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death; ^bthe people of the land shall stone him with stones.

³‘I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people because he has given some of those who are his seed to Molech, ^aso as to defile My sanctuary and ^bto profane My holy name.

⁴‘If the people of the land, however, ¹should ever turn a blind eye to that man when he gives any of those who are his seed to Molech, so as not to put him to death,

⁵then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, in playing the harlot after Molech.

⁶‘As for the person who turns to ^1amediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

⁷‘Therefore, you shall set yourselves apart as holy and ^abe holy, for I am Yahweh your God.

⁸‘^aAnd you shall keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who makes you holy.

⁹‘^aIf there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother. His bloodguiltiness is upon him.

¹⁰‘^aIf there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

¹¹‘^aIf …