Leviticus 18-20

Legacy Standard Bible

Statutes on the Nakedness of Relatives

18 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(A)I am Yahweh your God. ³ You shall not do according to what is ^(B)done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is ^(C)done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; ^(D)I am Yahweh your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^(E)which if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ^[a]of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh. ^7 (F)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ^8 (G)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (H)The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, 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 ^[b]their nakedness is yours. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ^[c]born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (I)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. ^14 (J)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; 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 (M)You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is ^[d]lewdness. ¹⁸ And you shall not ^[e]marry a woman in addition to ^[f]her sister ^[g]as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹ ‘^(N)Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^(O)menstrual impurity. ^20 (P)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹ And you shall not give any of your seed ^(Q)to pass them over to Molech, nor shall you ^(R)profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. ^22 (S)And you shall not lie with a male as ^[h]one lies with a female; it is an abomination. ^23 (T)Also you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ^[i]mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴ ‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^(U)the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. ²⁵ So the land has become defiled, ^(V)and I have brought its ^[j]punishment upon it. And the land ^(W)has vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); ²⁸ so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you. ²⁹ For whoever does any of these abominations, ^[k]those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Thus you are to keep ^(X)My charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^(Y)I am Yahweh your God.’”

Yahweh Is Holy

19 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

² “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(Z)You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. ³ Every one of you ^(AA)shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep ^(AB)My sabbaths; ^(AC)I am Yahweh your God. ⁴ Do not turn to ^(AD)idols or make for yourselves molten ^(AE)gods; I am Yahweh your God.

⁵ ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. ⁷ So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. ⁸ And everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Statutes

⁹ ‘^(AF)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the afflicted and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.

¹¹ ‘^(AG)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^(AH)nor lie to one another. ^12 (AI)And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to ^(AJ)profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

¹³ ‘^(AK)You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. ^(AL)The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse a deaf man nor ^(AM)place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

¹⁵ ‘^(AN)You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. ¹⁶ You shall not go about as ^(AO)a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the ^[l](AP)life of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.

¹⁷ ‘You ^(AQ)shall not hate your brother in your heart; you ^(AR)may surely reprove your neighbor, and so not bear sin because of him. ^18 (AS)You shall not take vengeance, ^(AT)and you shall not keep your anger against the sons of your people, but ^(AU)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.

¹⁹ ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; ^(AV)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

²⁰ ‘^(AW)Now if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free. ²¹ And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, ^(AX)a ram for a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

²³ ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as ^[m]forbidden. Three years it shall be ^[n]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. ²⁴ But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh. ²⁵ Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.

²⁶ ‘You shall not eat anything ^(AY)with the blood nor interpret ^(AZ)omens or soothsaying. ^27 (BA)You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. ²⁸ And you shall not make any cuts in your ^[o]body for the ^[p]dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am Yahweh.

²⁹ ‘^(BB)Do not ^[q]profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. ³⁰ You shall ^(BC)keep My sabbaths and ^(BD)fear My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to ^[r](BE)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

³² ‘^(BF)You shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the ^[s]aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

³³ ‘^(BG)And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. ³⁴ The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ^(BH)you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

³⁵ ‘^(BI)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume. ³⁶ You shall have ^[t](BJ)just balances, ^[u]just weights, a ^[v]just ^[w]ephah, and a ^[x]just ^[y]hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’”

Set Yourselves Apart as Holy

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

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the sojourners sojourning in Israel ^(BK)who gives any of his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death; ^(BL)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 those who are his seed to Molech, ^(BM)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(BN)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[z]should ever turn a blind eye to that man when he gives any of those who are his seed 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 harlot after him, in playing the harlot after Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[aa](BO)mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ Therefore, you shall set yourselves apart as holy and ^(BP)be holy, for I am Yahweh your God. ^8 (BQ)And you shall keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who makes you holy.

⁹ ‘^(BR)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother. His bloodguiltiness is upon him.

¹⁰ ‘^(BS)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 shall surely be put to death. ^11 (BT)If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^12 (BU)If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^[ab]perversion. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^13 (BV)If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^14 (BW)If there is a man who ^[ac]marries a woman and her mother, it is lewdness; both he and they shall be burned with fire so that there will be no lewdness in your midst. ^15 (BX)If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ^[ad]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘^(BY)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 (BZ)If there is a man who lies with a ^[ae]menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (CA)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his ^[af]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (CB)If there is a man who lies with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (CC)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is an ^[ag]impure act; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[ah]inhabit will not ^(CD)vomit you out. ²³ Moreover, you shall not walk in ^(CE)the statutes of the nation which I will cast out before you, for they did all these things, and ^(CF)therefore I have loathed them. ²⁴ Hence I have said to you, “^(CG)You yourselves shall possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has ^(CH)separated you from the peoples. ^25 (CI)You are therefore to separate between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[ai]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything ^[aj]that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ²⁶ Thus you shall be holy to Me, for I Yahweh am holy; and I ^(CJ)have separated you from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘Now a man or a woman ^(CK)who is a medium or a ^[ak]spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”