Leviticus 18–20

Chapter 18

Laws on Immoral Relations

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

³‘You shall not do ¹what is ^adone in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is ^bdone in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

⁴‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, ¹to live in accord with them; ^aI am the Lord your God.

⁵‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^aby which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.

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

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‘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‘^aYou shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

²¹‘You shall not give any of your offspring ^ato ¹offer them to Molech, nor shall you ^bprofane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

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

²³‘^aAlso you shall not have intercourse 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‘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‘For the land has become defiled, ^atherefore I have brought its ¹punishment upon it, so the land ^bhas spewed out its inhabitants.

²⁶‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien 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 spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed 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 practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^bI am the Lord your God.’ ”

Chapter 19

Idolatry Forbidden

¹Then the Lord 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 the Lord your God am holy.

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

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

⁵‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, 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‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Sundry Laws

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 needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁶‘You shall not go about as ^aa slanderer among your people, and you are not to ¹act against the ^2blife of your neighbor; I am the Lord.

¹⁷‘You ^ashall not hate your ¹fellow countryman in your heart; you ^bmay surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

¹⁸‘^aYou shall not take vengeance, ^bnor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but ^cyou shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

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 carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for 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‘He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord 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 the Lord 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 count their fruit as ¹forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

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

²⁵‘In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

²⁶‘You shall not eat anything ^awith the blood, nor practice ^bdivination or soothsaying.

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

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

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 ^brevere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

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

³²‘^aYou shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the ¹aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

³³‘^aWhen a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

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

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

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

³⁷‘You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.’ ”

Chapter 20

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel ^awho gives any of his ¹offspring 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 his ¹offspring to Molech, ^aso as to defile My sanctuary and ^bto profane My holy name.

⁴‘If the people of the land, however, ¹should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his ²offspring 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, by 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‘You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^abe holy, for I am the Lord your God.

⁸‘^aYou shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

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 there…