On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Anyone from the sons of Israel or from the strangers residing in Israel ^(A)who gives any of his ^[a]children to Molech, shall certainly be put to death; ^(B)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³ I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his ^[b]children to Molech, ^(C)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(D)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[c]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his ^[d]children to Molech, so as not to put him to death, ⁵ then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[e](E)mediums and to spiritists, to play the prostitute with them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^(F)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ So ^(G)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘^(H)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his ^[f]own death upon himself.

¹⁰ ‘^(I)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ^11 (J)If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their ^[g]own deaths upon themselves. ^12 (K)If there is a man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed ^[h]incest, and have brought their ^[i]own deaths upon themselves. ^13 (L)If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their ^[j]own deaths upon themselves. ^14 (M)If there is a man who ^[k]marries a woman and her mother, it is an outrageous sin; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no such outrageous sin in your midst. ^15 (N)If there is a man who has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ^[l]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they must be put to death. They have brought their ^[m]own deaths upon themselves.

¹⁷ ‘^(O)If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. ^18 (P)If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (Q)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his ^[n]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (R)If there is a man who sleeps with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (S)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is ^[o]detestable; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[p]live will not ^(T)vomit you out. ²³ Furthermore, you shall not ^[q]follow ^(U)the customs of the nation which I am going to drive out before you, because they did all these things; ^(V)therefore I have felt disgust for them. ²⁴ So I have said to you, “^(W)You are to take possession of their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has ^(X)singled you out from the peoples. ^25 (Y)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[r]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything ^[s]that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean. ²⁶ So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I ^(Z)have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘Now a man or a woman ^(AA)who is a medium or a spiritist ^[t]must be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; they have brought their ^[u]own deaths upon themselves.’”

Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.