^18:15You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her. ^18:16You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.²²^18:17You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them.²³ They are closely related to her²⁴—it is lewdness.²⁵^18:18You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife²⁶ while she is still alive,²⁷ to have sexual intercourse with her.

^18:19“ ‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity²⁸ to have sexual intercourse with her.

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Footnotes

22 Regarding the last clause, see the notes on vv. and above.
23 Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The and have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.
24 Heb “they are her flesh.” The reads “your” here (followed by ). If the reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”
25 The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: “would be shameful”; “would make you unclean”; “wickedness”; “horrible wickedness”; “depravity”; “incest.”
26 Or “as a concubine”; Heb “And a woman to her sister you shall not take to be a second wife [or “to be a concubine”].” According to III צרר, the infinitive “to be a second wife” (לִצְרֹר, litsror) is a denominative verb from II צָרָה A (“concubine; second wife”), which, in turn, derives from II צר “to treat with hostility” (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
27 Heb “on her in her life.”
28 Heb “in the menstruation of her impurity”; “during the uncleanness of her monthly period.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.

“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

“ ‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

“ ‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

You are not to have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sex with her. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s family. You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sex with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved. You are not to marry a woman as a rival to her sister and have sexual intercourse with her during her sister’s lifetime.

“You are not to approach a woman during her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

“Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.

“Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.

“While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

“Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

You must not expose your daughter-in-law’s nakedness; she is your son’s wife; you must not expose her nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, or her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter; you must not take her as wife to expose her nakedness; they are close relatives—that is wickedness. And you must not take as wife a woman with her sister, to be a rival-wife, to expose her nakedness before her during her life.

“ ‘And you must not have sex with a woman to expose her nakedness during her menstrual uncleanness.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

Public Domain