If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.”

But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water.

They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies.

Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.

“These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

“You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you.

All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.

“All small animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them.

This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them.

“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

“All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled.

Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel.

So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”

“If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.

“You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.

Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.

In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you,

“You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean.

When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,

A Call to Holy Living

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.

This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.

“A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.