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Leviticus 18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 18

Laws Concerning Sexual Behavior. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I, the Lord, am your God.[a] 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you once lived, nor shall you do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; do not conform to their customs.(A) 4 My decrees you shall carry out, and my statutes you shall take care to follow. I, the Lord, am your God. 5 Keep, then, my statutes and decrees, for the person who carries them out will find life[b] through them. I am the Lord.(B)

6 [c]None of you shall approach a close relative[d] to have sexual intercourse. I am the Lord. 7 [e]You shall not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother.(C) She is your own mother; you shall not have intercourse with her. 8 You shall not have intercourse with your father’s wife, for that would be a disgrace to your father. 9 You shall not have intercourse with your sister,[f](D) your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in your own household or born elsewhere. 10 You shall not have intercourse with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter,[g] for that would be a disgrace to you. 11 You shall not have intercourse with the daughter whom your father’s wife bore to him in his household,(E) since she, too, is your sister. 12 You shall not have intercourse with your father’s sister,(F) since she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not have intercourse with your mother’s sister, since she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not disgrace your father’s brother by having sexual relations with his wife,(G) since she, too, is your aunt. 15 You shall not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law;[h](H) she is your son’s wife; you shall not have intercourse with her. 16 You shall not have intercourse with your brother’s wife;[i](I) that would be a disgrace to your brother. 17 You shall not have intercourse with a woman and also with her daughter, nor shall you marry and have intercourse with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter;(J) they are related to her. This would be shameful. 18 While your wife is still living you shall not marry her sister as her rival and have intercourse with her.(K)

19 You shall not approach a woman to have intercourse with her while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.(L) 20 You shall not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife,[j](M) defiling yourself with her. 21 (N)You shall not offer any of your offspring for immolation to Molech,[k] thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman;(O) such a thing is an abomination. 23 You shall not have sexual relations with an animal, defiling yourself with it; nor shall a woman set herself in front of an animal to mate with it; that is perverse.(P)

24 Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, because by them the nations whom I am driving out of your way have defiled themselves. 25 And so the land has become defiled, and I have punished it for its wickedness, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants.(Q) 26 You, however, must keep my statutes and decrees, avoiding all these abominations, both the natives and the aliens resident among you— 27 because the previous inhabitants did all these abominations and the land became defiled; 28 otherwise the land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations before you. 29 For whoever does any of these abominations shall be cut off from the people. 30 Heed my charge, then, not to observe the abominable customs that have been observed before your time, and thus become impure by them.(R) I, the Lord, am your God.

Footnotes

  1. 18:2 I, the Lord, am your God: this declaration appears frequently elsewhere throughout chaps. 17–26, sometimes with a statement of God’s holiness or his sanctifying activity. It emphasizes the importance of the laws and the relationship of the divine lawgiver to the people.
  2. 18:5 Find life: in Dt 30:15–20 Moses sets before the people life and death. The alternatives are set out in detail in Lv 26 and Dt 28. Cf. Ez 20:11, 13, 21.
  3. 18:6–23 These laws deal with illicit sexual behavior. Lv 20:10–21 reiterates most of these cases, with penalties. Cf. also Dt 27:15–26; Ez 22:7–12. The ordering of the cases in Lv 18 seems to be: blood relatives (vv. 6–13), those related by marriage (vv. 14–18), then other cases (vv. 19–23).
  4. 18:6 Close relative: this refers to a blood relative and includes those not specifically mentioned in the list, such as one’s own daughter and a full sister. Have sexual intercourse: lit., “to uncover nakedness.”
  5. 18:7–8 Cf. the story of Reuben lying with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and Rachel’s maid (Gn 35:22; 49:4).
  6. 18:9, 11 Cf. actual or possible marriage to a half sister in Gn 20:12 and 2 Sm 13:13.
  7. 18:10 Daughter incest is found in the story of Lot (Gn 19:30–38).
  8. 18:15 Judah had intercourse with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gn 38), but did not know her true identity until her pregnancy was discovered.
  9. 18:16 This refers to cohabiting with one’s sister-in-law not only while the brother is alive, but also after he is dead. Dt 25:5–10 allows for the marriage to the wife of a brother when that brother died without a male heir. Cf. Gn 38:6–14. It was the violation of this law of Leviticus which aroused the wrath of John the Baptist against Herod Antipas (Mt 14:4; Mk 6:18).
  10. 18:20 Adultery in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East is intercourse between a married or betrothed woman and any male. In the Bible it is generally punishable by the death of both individuals (20:10; cf. Dt 22:22–27). Intercourse with an unmarried or unbetrothed woman is not prohibited but carries responsibilities and fines (cf. Ex 22:15–16; Dt 22:28–29). Cf. Lv 19:20–22.
  11. 18:21 Immolation to Molech: the reference is to the custom of sacrificing children to the god Molech. Cf. Ez 16:20–21; 20:26, 31; 23:37. See note on Lv 20:1–5.
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Leviticus 18
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Sexual Relations

18 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. 4 My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.

6 None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord. 7 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 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father. 9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad. 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, begotten by your father, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh. 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 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 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 her daughter, and you shall not take[a] her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your[b] flesh; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take[c] a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

19 You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman’s wife, and defile yourself with her. 21 You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them[d] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion.

24 Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. 25 Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you 27 (for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); 28 otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. 30 So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 18:17 Or marry
  2. Leviticus 18:17 Gk: Heb lacks your
  3. Leviticus 18:18 Or marry
  4. Leviticus 18:21 Heb to pass them over
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Leviticus 18
Good News Translation

Forbidden Sexual Practices

18 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, “I am the Lord your God. 3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. 4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. 5 (A)Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord.”

6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. 8 (B)Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 (C)Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. 10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. 11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. 12-13 (D)Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. 14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. 15 (E)Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law 16 (F)or with your brother's wife. 17 (G)Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. 18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

19 (H)Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. 20 (I)Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. 21 (J)Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. 22 (K)No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. 23 (L)No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26-27 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people.

30 And the Lord said, “Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God.”

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Leviticus 18
New American Standard Bible

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do [a]what is (B)done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do [b]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 perform My judgments and keep My statutes, [c]to live in accord with them; (D)I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, (E)which, if [d]a person [e]follows them, then he will live by them; I am the Lord.

6 ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative [f]of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. 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 As for (H)the nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born in the household or born outside the household, you shall not uncover their nakedness. 10 The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for [g]their nakedness is yours. 11 The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, 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 an outrageous sin. 18 And you shall not [h]marry a woman in addition to her sister [i]as a second wife 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 And (P)you shall not have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children (Q)to [j]offer them to Molech, nor shall you (R)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. 22 (S)You shall not sleep with a male as [k]one sleeps with a female; it is an abomination. 23 (T)Also you shall not have sexual intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to [l]mate with it; it is a perversion.

24 ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these things (U)the nations which I am driving out from you have become defiled. 25 For the land has become defiled, (V)therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land (W)has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and you shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the stranger who resides among you 27 (for the people of the land who were there before you did 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 was there before you. 29 For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. 30 So you are to keep (X)your [m]commitment to Me not to practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves with them; (Y)I am the Lord your God.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 18:3 Lit according to the deed of
  2. Leviticus 18:3 Lit according to the deed of
  3. Leviticus 18:4 Lit to walk in them
  4. Leviticus 18:5 Lit the person
  5. Leviticus 18:5 Lit does them
  6. Leviticus 18:6 Lit of his flesh
  7. Leviticus 18:10 Lit they are your nakedness
  8. Leviticus 18:18 Lit take
  9. Leviticus 18:18 Lit to be
  10. Leviticus 18:21 Lit make them pass over
  11. Leviticus 18:22 Lit a woman’s bed
  12. Leviticus 18:23 Or lie
  13. Leviticus 18:30 Lit obligation
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Leviticus 18
New International Version

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.(A) 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.(B) 4 You must obey my laws(C) and be careful to follow my decrees.(D) I am the Lord your God.(E) 5 Keep my decrees and laws,(F) for the person who obeys them will live by them.(G) I am the Lord.

6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.

7 “‘Do not dishonor your father(H) by having sexual relations with your mother.(I) She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

8 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife;(J) that would dishonor your father.(K)

9 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister,(L) either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.(M)

10 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.

11 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

12 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister;(N) she is your father’s close relative.

13 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister,(O) because she is your mother’s close relative.

14 “‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.(P)

15 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law.(Q) She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.(R)

16 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife;(S) that would dishonor your brother.

17 “‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter.(T) Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

18 “‘Do not take your wife’s sister(U) as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

19 “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness(V) of her monthly period.(W)

20 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife(X) and defile yourself with her.

21 “‘Do not give any of your children(Y) to be sacrificed to Molek,(Z) for you must not profane the name of your God.(AA) I am the Lord.(AB)

22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman;(AC) that is detestable.(AD)

23 “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.(AE)

24 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you(AF) became defiled.(AG) 25 Even the land was defiled;(AH) so I punished it for its sin,(AI) and the land vomited out its inhabitants.(AJ) 26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws.(AK) The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you defile the land,(AL) it will vomit you out(AM) as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements(AN) and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.(AO)’”

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Leviticus 19
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