Leviticus 18–20

Laws of Sexual Morality

18Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^a‘I am the Lord your God. ^3bAccording to ¹the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and ^caccording to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ²ordinances. ^4dYou shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸The nakedness of your ^efather’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9fThe nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. ¹¹The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12gYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. ^14hYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her ⁱdaughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. ¹⁸Nor shall you take a woman ^jas a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

¹⁹‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as ^klong as she is in her ^lcustomary impurity. ^20mMoreover you shall not lie carnally with your ⁿneighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. ²¹And you shall not let any of your descendants ^opass through ^pthe fire to ^qMolech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²²You shall not lie with ^ra male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³Nor shall you mate with any ^sanimal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

^24t‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ^ufor by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵For ^vthe land is defiled; therefore I ^wvisit ³the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land ^xvomits out its inhabitants. ^26yYou shall therefore ⁴keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸lest ^zthe land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be ⁵cut off from among their people.

³⁰‘Therefore you shall keep My ⁶ordinance, so ^athat you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: ^bI am the Lord your God.’ ”

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

19And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ^a‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

^3b‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^ckeep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

^4d‘Do not turn to idols, ^enor make for yourselves ¹molded gods: I am the Lord your God.

⁵‘And ^fif you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. ⁷And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. ⁸Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

^9g‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

^11h‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ⁱnor lie to one another. ¹²And you shall not ^jswear by My name falsely, ^knor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

^13l‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. ^mThe wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. ¹⁴You shall not curse the deaf, ⁿnor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵‘You shall do no injustice in ^ojudgment. You shall not ^pbe partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You shall not go about as a ^qtalebearer among your people; nor shall you ^rtake a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

^17s‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. ^tYou shall surely ²rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. ^18uYou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, ^vbut you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

²⁰‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is ^wbetrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be ³scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. ²²The priest shall make ⁴atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

²³‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as ⁵uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. ²⁵And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. ²⁷You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. ²⁸You shall not ^xmake any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

^29y‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

³⁰‘You shall ⁶keep My Sabbaths and ^zreverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after ^athem, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

^32b‘You shall ⁷rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and ^cfear your God: I am the Lord.

³³‘And ^dif a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. ^34eThe stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as ⁸one born among you, and ^fyou shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

³⁵‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. ³⁶You shall have ^ghonest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

^37h‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ”

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2a“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ^b‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who ¹dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall ^cstone him with stones. ^3dI will set My face against that man, and will ²cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land should in any way ³hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, ⁵then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

⁶‘And ^ethe person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. ^7fConsecrate ⁴yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸And you shall keep ^gMy statutes, and perform them: ^hI am the Lord who ⁵sanctifies you.

⁹‘For ⁱeveryone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. ^jHis blood shall be upon him.

^10k‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress,…