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Molech Worship and Spiritism

20 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “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] 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] 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, 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. 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.

“‘And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh who consecrates you.

Family and Sexual Offenses

“‘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

  1. Leviticus 20:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 20:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Leviticus 20:2 Literally “a man a man”
  4. Leviticus 20:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  5. Leviticus 20:2 Or “and”
  6. Leviticus 20:2 Literally “from”
  7. Leviticus 20:2 Hebrew “the stone”
  8. Leviticus 20:3 Literally “from”
  9. Leviticus 20:3 Literally “to make unclean my sanctuary”
  10. Leviticus 20:3 Hebrew “to profane”
  11. Leviticus 20:3 Literally “the name of my holiness”
  12. Leviticus 20:4 Or “disregard”
  13. Leviticus 20:4 Literally “from”
  14. Leviticus 20:5 Or “and”
  15. Leviticus 20:6 Or “And”
  16. Leviticus 20:6 Hebrew “and I will set”
  17. Leviticus 20:9 Literally “a man a man”
  18. Leviticus 20:10 Or “And”
  19. Leviticus 20:11 Or “And”
  20. Leviticus 20:12 Or “And”
  21. Leviticus 20:13 Or “And”
  22. Leviticus 20:14 Or “And”
  23. Leviticus 20:15 Or “And”
  24. Leviticus 20:15 Literally “he gives his lying down”
  25. Leviticus 20:16 Or “And”
  26. Leviticus 20:16 Or “and you shall kill”
  27. Leviticus 20:17 Or “And”
  28. Leviticus 20:17 Literally “in”
  29. Leviticus 20:17 Literally “the sons/children of their people”
  30. Leviticus 20:18 Or “And”
  31. Leviticus 20:18 Or “and he exposes”
  32. Leviticus 20:19 Hebrew “he”
  33. Leviticus 20:20 Or “And”
  34. Leviticus 20:21 Or “And”
  35. Leviticus 20:22 Or “and”
  36. Leviticus 20:23 Literally “from your faces”
  37. Leviticus 20:24 Or “And”
  38. Leviticus 20:24 Literally “I have set you apart”
  39. Leviticus 20:25 Or “and”
  40. Leviticus 20:25 Or “and”
  41. Leviticus 20:25 Literally “to make unclean”
  42. Leviticus 20:27 Hebrew “the stone”

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

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

‘Anyone from the sons of Israel or from the strangers residing in Israel (A)who gives any of his [a]children to Molech, shall certainly be put to death; (B)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his [b]children to Molech, (C)so as to defile My sanctuary and (D)to profane My holy name. If the people of the land, however, [c]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his [d]children to Molech, so as not to put him to death, 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 prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech.

‘As for the person who turns to [e](E)mediums and to spiritists, to play the prostitute with them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and (F)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. So (G)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

(H)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his [f]own death upon himself.

10 (I)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 must be put to death. 11 (J)If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their [g]own deaths upon themselves. 12 (K)If there is a man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed [h]incest, and have brought their [i]own deaths upon themselves. 13 (L)If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their [j]own deaths upon themselves. 14 (M)If there is a man who [k]marries a woman and her mother, it is an outrageous sin; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no such outrageous sin in your midst. 15 (N)If there is a man who has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. 16 If there is a woman who approaches any animal to [l]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they must be put to death. They have brought their [m]own deaths upon themselves.

17 (O)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 (P)If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 (Q)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his [n]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20 (R)If there is a man who sleeps with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21 (S)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is [o]detestable; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to [p]live will not (T)vomit you out. 23 Furthermore, you shall not [q]follow (U)the customs of the nation which I am going to drive out before you, because they did all these things; (V)therefore I have felt disgust for them. 24 So I have said to you, “(W)You are to take possession of their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has (X)singled you out from the peoples. 25 (Y)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make [r]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything [s]that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean. 26 So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I (Z)have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.

27 ‘Now a man or a woman (AA)who is a medium or a spiritist [t]must be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; they have brought their [u]own deaths upon themselves.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:2 Lit seed
  2. Leviticus 20:3 Lit seed
  3. Leviticus 20:4 Lit hiding they hide their eyes from
  4. Leviticus 20:4 Lit seed
  5. Leviticus 20:6 Or ghosts and spirits
  6. Leviticus 20:9 Lit bloodguilt upon
  7. Leviticus 20:11 Lit bloodguilt upon
  8. Leviticus 20:12 Lit disgracefulness
  9. Leviticus 20:12 Lit bloodguilt upon
  10. Leviticus 20:13 Lit bloodguilt upon
  11. Leviticus 20:14 Lit takes
  12. Leviticus 20:16 Lit lie
  13. Leviticus 20:16 Lit bloodguilt upon
  14. Leviticus 20:19 Lit flesh
  15. Leviticus 20:21 Or an abomination
  16. Leviticus 20:22 Lit dwell in it
  17. Leviticus 20:23 Lit walk in
  18. Leviticus 20:25 Lit your souls
  19. Leviticus 20:25 Lit with which the ground crawls
  20. Leviticus 20:27 Lit among them must
  21. Leviticus 20:27 Lit bloodguilt upon