Laws of Sexual Morality

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(A)‘I am the Lord your God. ^3 (B)According to ^[a]the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and ^(C)according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ^[b]ordinances. ^4 (D)You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷ The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸ The nakedness of your ^(E)father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (F)The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰ The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (G)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. ^14 (H)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. 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 ^(I)daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. ¹⁸ Nor shall you take a woman ^(J)as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

¹⁹ ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as ^(K)long as she is in her ^(L)customary impurity. ^20 (M)Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your ^(N)neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. ²¹ And you shall not let any of your descendants ^(O)pass through ^(P)the fire to ^(Q)Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²² You shall not lie with ^(R)a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³ Nor shall you mate with any ^(S)animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

^24 (T)‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ^(U)for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵ For ^(V)the land is defiled; therefore I ^(W)visit^[c] the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land ^(X)vomits out its inhabitants. ^26 (Y)You shall therefore ^[d]keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷ (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸ lest ^(Z)the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be ^[e]cut off from among their people.

³⁰ ‘Therefore you shall keep My ^[f]ordinance, so ^(AA)that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: ^(AB)I am the Lord your God.’ ”

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ^(B)‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who ^[a]dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall ^(C)stone him with stones. ^3 (D)I will set My face against that man, and will ^[b]cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. ⁴ And if the people of the land should in any way ^[c]hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, ⁵ then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

⁶ ‘And ^(E)the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. ^7 (F)Consecrate^[d] yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ And you shall keep ^(G)My statutes, and perform them: ^(H)I am the Lord who ^[e]sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘For ^(I)everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. ^(J)His blood shall be upon him.

^10 (K)‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. ¹¹ The man who lies with his ^(L)father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹² If a man lies with his ^(M)daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. ^13 (N)If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹⁴ If a man marries a woman and her ^(O)mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. ¹⁵ If a man mates with an ^(P)animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘If a man takes his ^(Q)sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be ^[f]cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his ^[g]guilt. ^18 (R)If a man lies with a woman during her ^[h]sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has ^[i]exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be ^[j]cut off from their people.

¹⁹ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your ^(S)mother’s sister nor of your ^(T)father’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. ²⁰ If a man lies with his ^(U)uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹ If a man takes his ^(V)brother’s wife, it is an ^[k]unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

²² ‘You shall therefore keep all My ^(W)statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell ^(X)may not vomit you out. ^23 (Y)And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and ^(Z)therefore I abhor them. ²⁴ But ^(AA)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, ^(AB)who has separated you from the peoples. ^25 (AC)You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, ^(AD)and you shall not make yourselves ^[l]abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as ^[m]unclean. ²⁶ And you shall be holy to Me, ^(AE)for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

^27 (AF)‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, ^(A)called to be an apostle, ^(B)separated to the gospel of God ^2 (C)which He promised before ^(D)through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who ^[a]was ^(E)born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and ^(F)declared to be the Son of God with power according ^(G)to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. ⁵ Through Him ^(H)we have received grace and apostleship for ^(I)obedience to the faith among all nations ^(J)for His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, ^(K)called to be saints:

^(L)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Desire to Visit Rome

⁸ First, ^(M)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that ^(N)your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)whom I serve ^[b]with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that ^(Q)without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that ^(R)I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by ^(S)the mutual faith both of you and me.

¹³ Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but ^(T)was hindered until now), that I might have some ^(U)fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

The Just Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(V)I am not ashamed of the gospel ^[c]of Christ, for ^(W)it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, ^(X)for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For ^(Y)in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ^(Z)“The just shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

^18 (AA)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^(AB)unrighteousness of men, who ^[d]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(AC)what may be known of God is ^[e]manifest ^[f]in them, for ^(AD)God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^(AE)His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ^[g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^(AF)became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (AG)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^(AH)incorruptible ^(AI)God into an image made like ^[h]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^24 (AJ)Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^(AK)to dishonor their bodies ^(AL)among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^(AM)the truth of God ^(AN)for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^(AO)vile passions. For even their ^[i]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ^[j]men, leaving the natural use of the ^[k]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^(AP)which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ^[l]sexual immorality, wickedness, ^[m]covetousness, ^[n]maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^31 [o]undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ^[p]unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^(AQ)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^(AR)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^(AS)approve of those who practice them.