^18:1The Lord spoke to Moses: ^18:2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! ^18:3You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living,¹ and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you;² you must not³ walk in their statutes. ^18:4You must observe my regulations⁴ and you must be sure to walk in my statutes.⁵ I am the Lord your God. ^18:5So you must keep⁶ my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them.⁷ I am the Lord.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Heb “As the work [or “deed”] of the land of Egypt, which you were dwelling in it, you must not do.”
2 Heb “and as the work [or “deed”] of the land of Canaan which I am bringing you to there, you must not do.” The participle “I am bringing” is inceptive; the Lord is “about to” bring them into the land of Canaan, as opposed to their having dwelt previously in the land of Egypt (see the first part of the verse).
3 Heb “and you shall not walk.”
4 Heb “My regulations you shall do”; , “my judgments”; “My ordinances”; , “my laws.” The Hebrew term translated “regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) refers to the set of regulations about to be set forth in the following chapters (cf. Lev 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46). Note especially the thematic and formulaic relationships between the introduction here in Lev 18:1–5 and the paraenesis in Lev 20:22–26, both of which refer explicitly to the corrupt nations and the need to separate from them by keeping the Lord’s regulations.
5 Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”
6 Heb “And you shall keep.”
7 Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on ) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vékhayah) in , but the form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see חיה qal and §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the Lord your God. Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs. You are to practice my ordinances and you are to keep my statutes by following them; I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am the Lord.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. You must not carry out the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not carry out the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes. You must carry out my regulations, and you must observe my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. And you shall observe my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live; I am Yahweh.

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.

Public Domain