Leviticus 20

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 is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹²‘^aIf there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ¹incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹³‘^aIf there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁴‘^aIf there is a man who ¹marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst.

¹⁵‘^aIf there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal.

¹⁶‘If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ¹mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁷‘^aIf there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt.

¹⁸‘^aIf there is a man who lies with a ¹menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has ²exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

¹⁹‘^aYou shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his ¹blood relative; they will bear their guilt.

²⁰‘^aIf there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless.

²¹‘^aIf there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is ¹abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²²‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ¹live will not ^aspew you out.

²³‘Moreover, you shall not ¹follow ^athe customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and ^btherefore I have abhorred them.

²⁴‘Hence I have said to you, “^aYou are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has ^bseparated you from the peoples.

²⁵‘^aYou are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ¹yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything ²that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean.

²⁶‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I ^ahave set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷‘Now a man or a woman ^awho is a medium or a ¹spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’ ”