Leviticus 20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Penalties for Violations of Holiness
20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say further to the Israelites:
“Any of the Israelites or of the aliens who reside in Israel who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death.(A) 3 I myself will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name.(B) 4 And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death,(C) 5 I myself will set my face against them and against their family and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.
6 “If any turn to mediums or spiritualists, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them and will cut them off from the people.(D) 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.(E) 8 Keep my statutes and observe them: I am the Lord; I sanctify you.(F) 9 All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their bloodguilt is upon them.(G)
10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of[a] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.(H) 11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.(I) 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion; their bloodguilt is upon them.(J) 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.(K) 14 If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death, both he and they, that there may be no depravity among you.(L) 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he shall be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.(M) 16 If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.
17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall be subject to punishment.(N) 18 If a man lies with a woman during her period and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people.(O) 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to lay bare one’s own flesh; they shall be subject to punishment.(P) 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall be subject to punishment; they shall die childless.(Q) 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.(R)
22 “You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out.(S) 23 You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(T) 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples.’(U) 25 You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.(V) 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.(W)
27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritualist shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.”(X)
Footnotes
- 20.10 Heb repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of
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”
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