Leviticus 20
Lexham English Bible
Molech Worship and Spiritism
20 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “And to the Israelites[b] you shall say, ‘If there is anyone[c] from the Israelites[d] or[e] from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives any of[f] his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.[g] 3 And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of[h] his offspring to Molech, so that he makes my sanctuary unclean[i] and profanes[j] my holy name.[k] 4 And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from[l] that man at his giving some of[m] his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, 5 then[n] I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech. 6 As for[o] the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set[p] my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.
7 “‘And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. 8 And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh who consecrates you.
Family and Sexual Offenses
9 “‘If there is anyone[q] who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father and his mother—his blood is upon him.
10 “‘As for[r] a man who commits adultery with a man’s wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man who commits adultery and the woman who commits adultery shall surely be put to death. 11 As for[s] a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death—their blood is on them. 12 As for[t] a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed a perversion—their blood is on them.
13 “‘As for[u] the man who lies with a male as lying with a woman, they have committed a detestable thing; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.
14 “‘As for[v] a man who marries a woman and her mother, that is depravity; they shall burn him and them, so that it shall not become depravity in the midst of you all.
15 “‘As for[w] a man who has sexual relations[x] with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 As for[y] a woman who approaches any animal to copulate with it, you shall kill[z] the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.
17 “‘As for[aa] a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she herself sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off before[ab] the eyes of their people;[ac] he has exposed his sister’s nakedness—he must bear his guilt. 18 As for[ad] a man who lies with a menstruating woman, he exposes[ae] her nakedness—her source he exposes and she herself reveals her blood’s source—both of them shall be cut off from the midst of their people. 19 And you shall not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, and you shall not expose your father’s sister, because such a person[af] has dishonored his close relative—they must bear their guilt. 20 As for[ag] a man who lies with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness—they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 As for[ah] a man who marries his brother’s wife, it is an abomination; he has exposed his brother’s nakedness—they shall be childless.
You Shall Be Holy
22 “‘And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so that[ai] the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out from before you,[aj] because they did all these things, and I detested them. 24 So[ak] I said to you, “You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it—a land flowing with milk and honey”; I am Yahweh your God, who has set you apart[al] from the nations. 25 And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or[am] with the bird or[an] with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you as unclean.[ao] 26 And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.
27 “‘And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones[ap]—their blood is on them.’”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 20:1 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 20:2 Literally “a man a man”
- Leviticus 20:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 20:2 Or “and”
- Leviticus 20:2 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 20:2 Hebrew “the stone”
- Leviticus 20:3 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 20:3 Literally “to make unclean my sanctuary”
- Leviticus 20:3 Hebrew “to profane”
- Leviticus 20:3 Literally “the name of my holiness”
- Leviticus 20:4 Or “disregard”
- Leviticus 20:4 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 20:5 Or “and”
- Leviticus 20:6 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:6 Hebrew “and I will set”
- Leviticus 20:9 Literally “a man a man”
- Leviticus 20:10 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:11 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:12 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:13 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:14 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:15 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:15 Literally “he gives his lying down”
- Leviticus 20:16 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:16 Or “and you shall kill”
- Leviticus 20:17 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:17 Literally “in”
- Leviticus 20:17 Literally “the sons/children of their people”
- Leviticus 20:18 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:18 Or “and he exposes”
- Leviticus 20:19 Hebrew “he”
- Leviticus 20:20 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:21 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:22 Or “and”
- Leviticus 20:23 Literally “from your faces”
- Leviticus 20:24 Or “And”
- Leviticus 20:24 Literally “I have set you apart”
- Leviticus 20:25 Or “and”
- Leviticus 20:25 Or “and”
- Leviticus 20:25 Literally “to make unclean”
- Leviticus 20:27 Hebrew “the stone”
Leviticus 20
International Standard Version
Prohibiting Child Sacrifice
20 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelis that when an Israeli or a resident alien[a] who lives in Israel offers[b] his child to Molech, he is certainly to be put to death.[c] The people who live in the land are to stone him with stones. 3 As for me, I’ll oppose that man. I’ll eliminate him from contact with his people[d] for sacrificing his children to Molech, thereby defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. 4 If the people avoid dealing[e] with that man when he offers his child to Molech—that is, if they fail to execute him— 5 then I’ll oppose that man and his family and eliminate him from contact with his people,[f] along with all the prostitutes who accompany him and who have committed prostitution with Molech.”
Consulting the Dead Prohibited
6 “I’ll oppose and eliminate from contact with his people[g] whoever consults mediums or familiar spirits, thereby committing spiritual prostitution with them. 7 Therefore, separate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and observe them. I am the Lord, who has set you apart.”
Honoring Parents
9 “Anyone who curses his father or mother is certainly to be put to death.[h] He has cursed his father or mother, so his guilt will remain his responsibility.”
Honoring the Seventh Commandment
10 “If anyone commits adultery with another man’s wife, including when someone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress are to die.
11 “If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness, so both of them are to be put to death. Their guilt will remain their responsibility.
12 “If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, the two are to be put to death. They’ve committed a repulsive act. Their guilt[i] will remain their responsibility.
13 “If a man has sexual relations with another male as he would with a woman, both have committed a repulsive act. They are certainly to be put to death.
14 “If a man takes a wife along with her mother, that’s wickedness. They are to be burned with fire—that is, both him and them, so that there will be no wickedness in your midst.
15 “If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you are also to kill the animal.
16 “If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual relations with it, both the woman and the animal are to be put to death. Their guilt[j] will remain their responsibility.
17 “If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, so that he exposes her nakedness and she exposes his nakedness, it’s a shameful thing. They are to be eliminated from contact with their people[k] in front of their people’s children. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness. He’ll continue to bear responsibility for[l] his iniquity.
18 “If a man has sexual relations with a menstruating woman, he has exposed her nakedness, laying bare her fountain. He has exposed the source of her blood. Both are to be eliminated from contact with their people.[m]
19 “You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, because that is laying bare the nakedness of his close relative. They’ll continue to bear responsibility for[n] their iniquity.
20 “If a man has sexual relations with his uncle’s wife, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness. They are to bear responsibility for[o] punishment of their sin. They’ll die childless.
21 “If a man takes his brother’s wife, it’s immoral.[p] He has exposed his brother’s nakedness. They’ll be childless.”
Living Distinctively in Holiness
22 “Be sure to keep all my statutes and observe all my ordinances, so that the land where I’m about to bring you to live won’t vomit you out. 23 You are not to live[q] by the customs of the nations, whom I’ve cast away right in front of you. Because they did all of these things, I detested them. 24 But I’ve promised[r] you that you’ll inherit the land that I’m about to give you as your permanent possession[s]—a land flowing with milk and honey.
“I am your God. I’ve separated you from the people. 25 You are to differentiate between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean. You are not to make yourselves detestable on account of any animal, bird, or any creeping creature of the ground that I’ve separated for you as unclean.
26 “You are to be holy toward me, because I, the Lord, am holy. I’ve separated you from among the people to be mine.
27 “Moreover, a man or a woman who has a ritual spirit or a familiar spirit is certainly to die. They are to be stoned to death with boulders. They will continue to bear responsibility for their guilt.”[t]
Footnotes
- Leviticus 20:2 Or foreigner who lives with you
- Leviticus 20:2 Or gives
- Leviticus 20:2 Lit. to die, he’ll die
- Leviticus 20:3 The Heb. lacks from contact with his people
- Leviticus 20:4 Lit. people conceal their face from
- Leviticus 20:5 The Heb. lacks from contact with his people
- Leviticus 20:6 The Heb. lacks contact with his people
- Leviticus 20:9 Lit. to die, he’ll die
- Leviticus 20:12 Lit. blood
- Leviticus 20:16 Lit. blood
- Leviticus 20:17 The Heb. lacks from contact with their people
- Leviticus 20:17 The Heb. lacks responsibility for
- Leviticus 20:18 The Heb. lacks from contact with their people
- Leviticus 20:19 The Heb. lacks responsibility for
- Leviticus 20:20 The Heb. lacks responsibility for
- Leviticus 20:21 Lit. an impurity
- Leviticus 20:23 Lit. walk
- Leviticus 20:24 Lit. said
- Leviticus 20:24 Lit. you to inherit
- Leviticus 20:27 Lit. blood
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