Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.^{(A) 3} You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.^{(B) 4} You must obey my laws^(C) and be careful to follow my decrees.^(D) I am the Lord your God.^{(E) 5} Keep my decrees and laws,^(F) for the person who obeys them will live by them.^(G) I am the Lord.

⁶ “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.

¹⁸ “‘Do not take your wife’s sister^(A) as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

¹⁹ “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness^(B) of her monthly period.^(C)

²⁰ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife^(D) and defile yourself with her.

²¹ “‘Do not give any of your children^(E) to be sacrificed to Molek,^(F) for you must not profane the name of your God.^(G) I am the Lord.^(H)

²² “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman;^(I) that is detestable.^(J)

²³ “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.^(K)

²⁴ “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you^(L) became defiled.^{(M) 25} Even the land was defiled;^(N) so I punished it for its sin,^(O) and the land vomited out its inhabitants.^{(P) 26} But you must keep my decrees and my laws.^(Q) The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, ²⁷ for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. ²⁸ And if you defile the land,^(R) it will vomit you out^(S) as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

²⁹ “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. ³⁰ Keep my requirements^(T) and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.^(U)’”

²⁶ You are to be holy to me^(A) because I, the Lord, am holy,^(B) and I have set you apart from the nations^(C) to be my own.