Leviticus 18
New King James Version
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.’ ”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 18:3 what is done in
- Leviticus 18:3 statutes
- Leviticus 18:25 bring judgment for
- Leviticus 18:26 obey
- Leviticus 18:29 Put to death
- Leviticus 18:30 charge
Lévitique 18
Louis Segond
18 L'Éternel parla à Moïse, et dit:
2 Parle aux enfants d'Israël, et tu leur diras: Je suis l'Éternel, votre Dieu.
3 Vous ne ferez point ce qui se fait dans le pays d'Égypte où vous avez habité, et vous ne ferez point ce qui se fait dans le pays de Canaan où je vous mène: vous ne suivrez point leurs usages.
4 Vous pratiquerez mes ordonnances, et vous observerez mes lois: vous les suivrez. Je suis l'Éternel, votre Dieu.
5 Vous observerez mes lois et mes ordonnances: l'homme qui les mettra en pratique vivra par elles. Je suis l'Éternel.
6 Nul de vous ne s'approchera de sa parente, pour découvrir sa nudité. Je suis l'Éternel.
7 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de ton père, ni la nudité de ta mère. C'est ta mère: tu ne découvriras point sa nudité.
8 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la femme de ton père. C'est la nudité de ton père.
9 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de ta soeur, fille de ton père ou fille de ta mère, née dans la maison ou née hors de la maison.
10 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la fille de ton fils ou de la fille de ta fille. Car c'est ta nudité.
11 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la fille de la femme de ton père, née de ton père. C'est ta soeur.
12 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la soeur de ton père. C'est la proche parente de ton père.
13 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la soeur de ta mère. Car c'est la proche parente de ta mère.
14 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité du frère de ton père. Tu ne t'approcheras point de sa femme. C'est ta tante.
15 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de ta belle-fille. C'est la femme de ton fils: tu ne découvriras point sa nudité.
16 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité de la femme de ton frère. C'est la nudité de ton frère.
17 Tu ne découvriras point la nudité d'une femme et de sa fille. Tu ne prendras point la fille de son fils, ni la fille de sa fille, pour découvrir leur nudité. Ce sont tes proches parentes: c'est un crime.
18 Tu ne prendras point la soeur de ta femme, pour exciter une rivalité, en découvrant sa nudité à côté de ta femme pendant sa vie.
19 Tu ne t'approcheras point d'une femme pendant son impureté menstruelle, pour découvrir sa nudité.
20 Tu n'auras point commerce avec la femme de ton prochain, pour te souiller avec elle.
21 Tu ne livreras aucun de tes enfants pour le faire passer à Moloc, et tu ne profaneras point le nom de ton Dieu. Je suis l'Éternel.
22 Tu ne coucheras point avec un homme comme on couche avec une femme. C'est une abomination.
23 Tu ne coucheras point avec une bête, pour te souiller avec elle. La femme ne s'approchera point d'une bête, pour se prostituer à elle. C'est une confusion.
24 Ne vous souillez par aucune de ces choses, car c'est par toutes ces choses que se sont souillées les nations que je vais chasser devant vous.
25 Le pays en a été souillé; je punirai son iniquité, et le pays vomira ses habitants.
26 Vous observerez donc mes lois et mes ordonnances, et vous ne commettrez aucune de ces abominations, ni l'indigène, ni l'étranger qui séjourne au milieu de vous.
27 Car ce sont là toutes les abominations qu'ont commises les hommes du pays, qui y ont été avant vous; et le pays en a été souillé.
28 Prenez garde que le pays ne vous vomisse, si vous le souillez, comme il aura vomi les nations qui y étaient avant vous.
29 Car tous ceux qui commettront quelqu'une de ces abominations seront retranchés du milieu de leur peuple.
30 Vous observerez mes commandements, et vous ne pratiquerez aucun des usages abominables qui se pratiquaient avant vous, vous ne vous en souillerez pas. Je suis l'Éternel, votre Dieu.
Leviticus 18
Easy-to-Read Version
Rules About Sexual Relations
18 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. 3 You must not follow the customs of Egypt where you lived, and you must not follow the customs of the Canaanites where I am leading you. You must not live the way they do. 4 You must obey my rules and follow my laws. Be sure to follow my rules because I am the Lord your God. 5 You must obey my rules and my laws, because whoever obeys them will live. I am the Lord.
6 “You must never have sexual relations with[a] your close relatives. I am the Lord.
7 “You must never have sexual relations with your father or mother. She is your mother, so you must not have sexual relations with her. 8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother, because that is like having sexual relations with your father.[b]
9 “You must not have sexual relations with your sister. It doesn’t matter if she is the daughter of your father or your mother. And it doesn’t matter if your sister was born in your house[c] or at some other place.
10 “You must not have sexual relations with your granddaughter. It doesn’t matter whether she is the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter—they are all a part of you!
11 “If your father and his wife[d] have a daughter, she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.
12 “You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relative. 13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relative. 14 You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your father’s brother. You must not go near your uncle’s wife for sexual relations. She is your aunt.
15 “You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.
16 “You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife. That would be like having sexual relations with your brother.[e]
17 “You must not have sexual relations with a mother and her daughter or her granddaughter. It doesn’t matter if this granddaughter is the daughter of this woman’s son or daughter. Her granddaughters are her close relatives. It is wrong to do this.
18 “While your wife is still living, you must not take her sister as another wife. This will make the sisters become enemies. You must not have sexual relations with your wife’s sister.
19 “You must not go near a woman to have sexual relations with her during her monthly time of bleeding. She is unclean during this time.
20 “You must not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife. This will only make you filthy.[f]
21 “You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22 “Men, you must not have sexual relations with another man as with a woman. That is a terrible sin!
23 “Men, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will make you filthy. And women, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. It is against nature!
24 “Don’t make yourself unclean by doing any of these wrong things! I am throwing nations off their land and giving it to you because they did those terrible sins. 25 They made the land filthy. Now the land is sick of those things, and it will vomit out the people who live there.
26 “So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of these terrible sins. These rules are for the citizens of Israel and the people living among you. 27 Those who lived in the land before you have done all these terrible things. So the land became filthy. 28 If you do these things, you will make the land filthy. And it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were there before you. 29 Whoever does any of these terrible sins must be separated from their people! 30 Other people have done these terrible sins, but you must obey my laws. You must not do any of these terrible sins. Do not make yourself filthy with these terrible sins. I am the Lord your God.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 18:6 have sexual relations with Literally, “uncover the nakedness of.” Also in verses 7, 9-12, 15-19.
- Leviticus 18:8 sexual relations … father Literally, “She is the nakedness of your father.” Husband and wife are like one person. See Gen. 2:24.
- Leviticus 18:9 sister was born in your house Or “household.” If a man had many wives, each wife and her children had their own tent or part of the house. So this probably means a man was not supposed to have sexual relations with any of his father’s daughters, whether sister or half-sister.
- Leviticus 18:11 his wife This probably means “your stepmother.”
- Leviticus 18:16 sexual relations … brother Literally, “She is the nakedness of your brother.”
- Leviticus 18:20 filthy Or “polluted” or “unclean.” Also in verses 23, 25, 27.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International