Laws of Sexual Morality

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: a‘I am the Lord your God. 3 bAccording 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. 4 dYou shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 You 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. 7 The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of your efather’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 fThe 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. 10 The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. 11 The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 gYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. 14 hYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You 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. 18 Nor 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. 20 mMoreover you shall not lie carnally with your nneighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And 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. 22 You shall not lie with ra male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor 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.

24 t‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ufor by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For vthe land is defiled; therefore I wvisit 3the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land xvomits out its inhabitants. 26 yYou 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), 28 lest zthe land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For 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

19 And 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.

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

4 d‘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. 6 It 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. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore 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.

9 g‘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. 10 And 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.

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

13 l‘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. 14 You 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. 16 You 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.

17 s‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. tYou shall surely 2rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 uYou 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. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The 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. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. 25 And 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. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not xmake any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

29 y‘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.

32 b‘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. 34 eThe 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. 36 You 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.

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

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 a“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. 3 dI 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. 4 And 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, 5 then 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. 7 fConsecrate 4yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 And 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.

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