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.’”

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “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. ³ 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. ⁴ 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, ⁵ 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.

⁶ ‘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. ⁷ You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^(F)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ So ^(G)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘^(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.’”