^20:2“You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel¹ who gives any of his children² to Molech³ must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones.⁴^20:3I myself will set my face⁵ against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people,⁶ because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.⁷^20:4If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes⁸ to that man⁹ when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, ^20:5I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution,¹⁰ to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech.¹¹

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums¹²

^20:6“ ‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits¹³ to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face¹⁴ against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

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Footnotes

1 Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; “an alien residing in Israel.”
2 Heb “his seed” (so , ); likewise in vv. 3–4.
3 Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on .
4 This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
5 Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”
6 On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on and .
7 Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”
8 Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see §113.p.
9 Heb “from that man” (so ); “disregard that man.”
10 The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.
11 Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. , , , , ). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on .
12 For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6–27 see the note on v. below.
13 See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in above.
14 Heb “I will give my faces.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

“ ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or alien residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him. I will turn against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. But if the people of the country look the other way when that man gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will turn against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

“Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Give the people of Israel these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living in Israel.

“If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death. I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech. And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them, I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.

“I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“And to the Israelites you shall say, ‘If there is anyone from the Israelites or from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones. And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so that he makes my sanctuary unclean and profanes my holy name. And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from that man at his giving some of his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, then I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech. As for the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

KJV 1900King James Version

Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

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Leviticus 20:2–6

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Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums12