Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(A)I am the Lord your God. ^3 (B)You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and ^(C)you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. ^4 (D)You shall follow my rules^[a] and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^(E)I am the Lord your God. ^5 (F)You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^(G)if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ^7 (H)You 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 (I)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. ^9 (J)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 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. ¹¹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. ¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. ¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ^15 (K)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^16 (L)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 of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. ¹⁸ And you shall not take a woman as a ^(M)rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness ^(N)while her sister is still alive.

^19 (O)“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. ^20 (P)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. ²¹ You shall not give any of your children to ^(Q)offer them^[b] to ^(R)Molech, and so ^(S)profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ^22 (T)You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ^23 (U)And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is ^(V)perversion.

^24 (W)“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^(X)for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, ²⁵ and the ^(Y)land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ^(Z)vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But ^(AA)you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^(AB)native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹ For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. ^30 (AC)So keep my charge never to practice ^(AD)any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^(AE)I am the Lord your God.”

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus ^(A)said to the crowds and to his disciples, ^2 (B)“The scribes and the Pharisees ^(C)sit on Moses' seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, ^(D)but not the works they do. ^(E)For they preach, but do not practice. ^4 (F)They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ^5 (G)They do all their deeds ^(H)to be seen by others. For they make ^(I)their phylacteries broad and ^(J)their fringes long, ⁶ and they ^(K)love the place of honor at feasts and ^(L)the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and ^(M)greetings in ^(N)the marketplaces and being called ^(O)rabbi^[b] by others. ^8 (P)But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are ^(Q)all brothers.^{[c] 9 (R)}And call no man your father on earth, for ^(S)you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, ^(T)the Christ. ^11 (U)The greatest among you shall be your servant. ^12 (V)Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³ “But woe ^(W)to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ^(X)shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you ^(Y)neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^{[d] 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^(Z)proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^(AA)child of ^(AB)hell^[e] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(AC)you, ^(AD)blind guides, who say, ^(AE)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(AF)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(AG)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(AH)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(AI)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(AJ)heaven swears by ^(AK)the throne of God and by ^(AL)him who sits upon it.

^23 (AM)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(AN)you tithe mint and dill and ^(AO)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(AP)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(AQ)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(AR)a camel!

^25 (AS)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(AT)you clean the outside of ^(AU)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(AV)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(AW)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (AX)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(AY)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(AZ)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(BA)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(BB)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (BC)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^(BD)sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (BE)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(BF)you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^(BG)hell? ^34 (BH)Therefore ^(BI)I send you ^(BJ)prophets and wise men and ^(BK)scribes, ^(BL)some of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^(BM)some you will ^(BN)flog in your synagogues and ^(BO)persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(BP)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(BQ)Abel to the blood of ^(BR)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[f] whom you murdered between ^(BS)the sanctuary and ^(BT)the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(BU)all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

^37 (BV)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(BW)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have ^(BX)gathered ^(BY)your children together ^(BZ)as a hen gathers her brood ^(CA)under her wings, and ^(CB)you were not willing! ³⁸ See, ^(CC)your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ^(CD)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

David Hears of Saul's Death

1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned ^(A)from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ² And on the third day, behold, ^(B)a man came from Saul's camp, ^(C)with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, ^(D)he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³ David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ And David said to him, ^(E)“How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ And the young man who told him said, ^(F)“By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ^(G)‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. ^(H)And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and ^(I)tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they mourned and wept ^(J)and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ David said to him, “How is it you were not ^(K)afraid to put out your hand to destroy ^(L)the Lord's anointed?” ¹⁵ Then ^(M)David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, ^(N)“Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed ^(O)the Lord's anointed.’”

David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ And David ^(P)lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it^[a] should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in ^(Q)the Book of Jashar.^[b] He said:

Amnon and Tamar

13 Now ^(A)Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was ^(B)Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. ² And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.

²⁴ And ^(A)if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

^18 (A)If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

¹⁰ In you ^(A)men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.

^4 (A)Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge ^(B)the sexually immoral and adulterous.