Leviticus 20

Punishments for Sin

20The Lord said to Moses, ²“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.^b The members of the community are to stone him.^{c 3}I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;^d for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled^e my sanctuary^f and profaned my holy name.^{g 4}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,^{h 5}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.

⁶“ ‘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.ⁱ

⁷“ ‘Consecrate yourselves^j and be holy,^k because I am the Lord your God.^{l 8}Keep my decrees^m and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.ⁿ

⁹“ ‘Anyone who curses their father^o or mother^p is to be put to death.^q Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.^r

¹⁰“ ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife^s—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.^t

¹¹“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.^u Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.^v

¹²“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law,^w both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹³“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.^x They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹⁴“ ‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother,^y it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire,^z so that no wickedness will be among you.^a

¹⁵“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal,^b he is to be put to death,^c and you must kill the animal.

¹⁶“ ‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹⁷“ ‘If a man marries his sister^d, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed^e from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.^f

¹⁸“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,^g he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.^h

¹⁹“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father,ⁱ for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.

²⁰“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt,^j he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.^k

²¹“ ‘If a man marries his brother’s wife,^l it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.^m

²²“ ‘Keep all my decrees and lawsⁿ and follow them, so that the land^o where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. ²³You must not live according to the customs of the nations^p I am going to drive out before you.^q Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.^{r 24}But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”^s I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.^t

²⁵“ ‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.^u Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. ²⁶You are to be holy to me^v because I, the Lord, am holy,^w and I have set you apart from the nations^x to be my own.

²⁷“ ‘A man or woman who is a medium^y or spiritist among you must be put to death.^z You are to stone them;^a their blood will be on their own heads.’ ”