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Leviticus 20:10-21
New English Translation

10 If a man[a] commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife,[b] both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 If a man goes to bed with[c] his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness.[d] Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.[e] 12 If a man goes to bed[f] with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion;[g] their blood guilt is on themselves. 13 If a man goes to bed with[h] a male as one goes to bed with a woman,[i] the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 14 If a man has marital relations with both a woman and her mother,[j] it is lewdness.[k] Both he and they must be burned to death,[l] so there is no lewdness in your midst. 15 If a man has sexual relations[m] with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal to copulate with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

17 “‘If a man has marital relations with[n] his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people.[o] He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.[p] 18 If a man goes to bed[q] with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them[r] must be cut off from the midst of their people. 19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a person has exposed his own close relative.[s] They must bear their punishment for iniquity.[t] 20 If a man goes to bed[u] with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 21 If a man has marital relations with[v] his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness;[w] they will be childless.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:10 tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.
  2. Leviticus 20:10 tc The reading of the LXX minuscule mss has been followed here (see the BHS footnote a-a). The MT has a dittography, repeating “a man who commits adultery with the wife of” (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). The duplication found in the MT is reflected in some English versions, e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV.
  3. Leviticus 20:11 tn Heb “lies down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakav) “to lie down” acts as a euphemism, implying going to bed for sexual relations.
  4. Leviticus 20:11 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
  5. Leviticus 20:11 tn See the note on v. 9 above.
  6. Leviticus 20:12 tn Heb “lies down with.” See note at v. 11.
  7. Leviticus 20:12 tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”).
  8. Leviticus 20:13 tn Heb “lies down with.” See note at v. 11.
  9. Leviticus 20:13 tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
  10. Leviticus 20:14 tn Heb “takes a woman and her mother.” The verb לָקַח (laqakh) is sometimes used idiomatically with אִשָּׁה (ʾishah) to mean “take a wife,” or “marry,” and may mean that here (cf. NIV, NASB). But the same expression in v. 21 probably does not imply marriage itself, but only the sexual act of marriage. This chapter uses different expressions for sexual relations, though the subtleties for exegesis are not clear. Since this Hebrew expression can imply marriage, the translation uses “marital relations” as the metaphor in vv. 14, 17, and 21.
  11. Leviticus 20:14 tn Regarding “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
  12. Leviticus 20:14 tn Heb “in fire they shall burn him and them.” The active plural verb sometimes requires a passive translation (GKC 460 §144.f, g), esp. when no active plural subject has been expressed in the context. The present translation specifies “burned to death” because the traditional rendering “burnt with fire” (KJV, ASV; NASB “burned with fire”) could be understood to mean “branded” or otherwise burned, but not fatally.
  13. Leviticus 20:15 tn See the note on Lev 18:20 above.
  14. Leviticus 20:17 tn The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh) “to take” sometimes means to take a woman in marriage (cf. Gen 34:16; Lev 20:14; and see HALOT 534 s.v. לקח) as understood by, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV. It is possible that expression here simply means to have sexual relations, or that it does so in combination with the following two clauses. See note at v. 14.
  15. Leviticus 20:17 tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.
  16. Leviticus 20:17 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
  17. Leviticus 20:18 tn Heb “lies down with.” See note at v. 11.
  18. Leviticus 20:18 tn Heb “and the two of them.”
  19. Leviticus 20:19 tn Heb “his flesh.”
  20. Leviticus 20:19 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
  21. Leviticus 20:20 tn Heb “lies down with.” See note at v. 11.
  22. Leviticus 20:21 tn Heb “takes.” See notes at vv. 14 and 17. sn It must be assumed that the brother is still alive in this situation, since Deut 25:5 requires a man to marry his brother’s widow and have a child in his brother’s name. It is less clear whether the brother in this case has divorced his wife.
  23. Leviticus 20:21 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
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Leviticus 20:10-21
Common English Bible

10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman, committing adultery with a neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be executed. 11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be executed. They have acted perversely; their blood is on their own heads. 13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a man as he would with a woman, the two of them have done something detestable. They must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother as well, it is shameful. They will be burned with fire—the man and the two women—so that no such shameful thing will be found among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be executed and you must kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any kind of animal to mate with it, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 17 If a man marries his sister—his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter—and they have sexual contact with each other, it is a disgrace. They will be cut off in the sight of their people. Such a man has had sexual contact with his sister; he will be liable to punishment. 18 If a man sleeps with a woman during her menstrual period and has sexual contact with her, he has exposed the source of her blood flow and she has uncovered the same. Both of them will be cut off from their people. 19 You must not have sexual contact with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, because that exposes your own close relative; both of you will be liable to punishment. 20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. The man and the aunt will be liable to punishment; they will die childless. 21 If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is indecent. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; the man and the woman will be childless.

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