Prohibited Pagan Practices

18 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the Lord your God.^{(A) 3} Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt,^(B) where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan,^(C) where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs.^{(D) 4} You are to practice my ordinances^(E) and you are to keep my statutes^(F) by following them; I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live^(G) if he does them.^(H) I am the Lord.

⁶ “You are not to come near^(I) any close relative^[a] for sexual intercourse;^(J) I am the Lord. ⁷ You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to your father^(K) and mother.^[b] She is your mother; you must not have sexual intercourse with her. ⁸ You are not to have sex with your father’s wife;^(L) she is your father’s family.^{(M) 9} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s,^(N) whether born at home or born elsewhere. You are not to have sex with her. ¹⁰ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for they are your family.^{[c] 11} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife’s daughter, who is adopted by^[d] your father; she is your sister. ¹² You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister;^(O) she is your father’s close relative. ¹³ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister,^(P) for she is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴ You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to^[e] your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual intercourse; she is your aunt.^{(Q) 15} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law.^(R) She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sex with her. ¹⁶ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s family.^{(S) 17} You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter.^(T) You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sex with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved.^{(U) 18} You are not to marry a woman as a rival to her sister and have sexual intercourse with her during her sister’s lifetime.^(V)

¹⁹ “You are not to approach^(W) a woman during her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her.^{(X) 20} You are not to have sexual intercourse with^[f] your neighbor’s wife, defiling yourself with her.^(Y)

²¹ “You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire^[g] to Molech.^(Z) Do not profane the name^(AA) of your God; I am the Lord. ²² You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman;^(AB) it is detestable.^{(AC) 23} You are not to have sexual intercourse with^[h] any animal, defiling yourself with it; a woman is not to present herself to an animal to mate with it;^(AD) it is a perversion.

²⁴ “Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things. ²⁵ The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.^{(AE) 26} But you are to keep my statutes and ordinances. You must not commit any of these detestable acts—not the native or the alien who resides among you. ²⁷ For the people who were in the land prior to you have committed all these detestable acts, and the land has become defiled. ²⁸ If you defile the land, it will vomit^(AF) you out as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ Any person who does any of these detestable practices is to be cut off from his people. ³⁰ You must keep my instruction to not do any of the detestable customs^(AG) that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.”