Leviticus 18–20

Sexual Relations

¹⁸The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am the Lord your God.^{* 3}You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.^{* 4}My ordinances you shall observe, and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.^*

⁶“None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.^{* 8}You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father. ⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad.^{* 10}You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born in your father’s house, since she is your sister. ¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.^{* 13}You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh. ¹⁴You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; that is, 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 daughter, and you shall not take^e her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your^f flesh; it is depravity.^{* 18}And you shall not take^g a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

¹⁹“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.^{* 20}You shall not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.^{* 21}You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them^h to Molech and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.^{* 22}You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.^{* 23}You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.^*

²⁴“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves.^{* 25}Thus the land became defiled, and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.^{* 26}But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the native-born or the alien who resides among you ²⁷(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); ²⁸otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. ³⁰So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”^*

Ritual and Moral Holiness

¹⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²“Speak to all the congregation of the Israelites and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.^{* 3}You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.^{* 4}Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.^*

⁵“When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. ⁶It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day, and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. ⁷If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. ⁸All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord, and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

⁹“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.^{* 10}You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.^{* 12}And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.^*

¹³“You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.^{* 14}You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.^*

¹⁵“You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.^{* 16}You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand idly by when the bloodⁱ of your neighbor is at stake: I am the Lord.^*

¹⁷“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.^{* 18}You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.^*

¹⁹“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.^*

²⁰“If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed, ²¹but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as guilt offering.^{* 22}And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he committed, and the sin he committed shall be forgiven him.

²³“When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden;^j three years it shall be forbidden^k to you; it must not be eaten. ²⁴In the fourth year all their fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord.^{* 25}But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for you: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶“You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.^{* 27}You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.^{* 28}You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.^*

²⁹“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, that the land not become prostituted and full of depravity.^{* 30}You shall keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary: I am the Lord.^*

³¹“Do not turn to mediums and spiritualists; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.^*

³²“You shall rise before the aged and defer to the old, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

³³“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.^{* 34}The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.^*

³⁵“You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. ³⁶You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and observe them: I am the Lord.”

Penalties for Violations of Holiness

²⁰The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Say further to the Israelites:

“Any of the Israelites or of the aliens who reside in Israel who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death.^{* 3}I myself will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name.^{* 4}And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death,^{* 5}I myself will set my face against them and against their family and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.

⁶“If any turn to mediums or spiritualists, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people.^{* 7}Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.^{* 8}Keep my statutes and observe them: I am the Lord; I sanctify you.^{* 9}All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their bloodguilt is upon them.^*

¹⁰“If a man commits adultery with the wife of^l his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.^{* 11}The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{* 12}If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{* 13}If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.^{* 14}If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned…