Punishment for Child Sacrifice

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ^oAny one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 ^pI myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary ^qunclean and ^rto profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not ^sput him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ^twhoring after Molech.

6 “If ^ua person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, ^vI will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 ^wConsecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 ^xKeep my statutes and do them; ^yI am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For ^zanyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; ^ahis blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

10 “If a ^bman commits adultery with the wife of¹ his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 ^cIf a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 ^dIf a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^eperversion; their blood is upon them. 13 ^fIf a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 ^gIf a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 ^hIf a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 ^hIf a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 ⁱ“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 ^jIf a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 ^kYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked ^lone’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 ^mIf a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 ⁿIf a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity.² He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

22 ^o“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not ^pvomit you out. 23 ^qAnd you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But ^rI have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land ^sflowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, ^twho has separated you from the peoples. 25 ^uYou shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 ^vYou shall be holy to me, ^wfor I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27 ^x“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be ^ystoned with stones; ^ztheir blood shall be upon them.”

Teach Me Your Paths

¹ Of David.

A Time for Everything

1 For everything there is a season, and ^la time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

9 What ^xgain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen ^ythe business that ^zGod has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has ^amade everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot ^bfind out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is ^cnothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^ddo good as long as they live; 13 also ^ethat everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^fGod’s gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^gnothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, ^halready has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ⁱseeks what has been driven away.¹

From Dust to Dust

16 Moreover, ^jI saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^kthere was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, ^lGod will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^ma time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ⁿbeasts. 19 ^oFor what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.² 20 All go to one place. All are from ^pthe dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether ^qthe spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is ^rnothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^sthat is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^twhat will be after him?

Instructions for the Church

1 ^bDo not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, ^cyounger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

3 Honor widows ^dwho are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn ^eto show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for ^fthis is pleasing in the sight of God. 5 She ^gwho is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and ^hcontinues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but ⁱshe who is self-indulgent is ^jdead even while she lives. 7 ^kCommand these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for ^lmembers of his household, he has ^mdenied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been ⁿthe wife of one husband,¹ 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has ⁿshown hospitality, ^ohas washed the feet of the saints, has ^pcared for the afflicted, and has ^qdevoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^rtheir passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^sgossips and ^tbusybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have ^uyounger widows marry, bear children, ^vmanage their households, and ^wgive the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 ^xFor some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those ^ywho are truly widows.

17 Let the elders ^zwho rule well be considered worthy of ^adouble honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, ^b“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, ^c“The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except ^don the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, ^erebuke them in the presence of all, ^fso that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels ^gI charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, ^hdoing nothing from partiality. 22 ⁱDo not be hasty in the ^jlaying on of hands, nor ^ktake part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but ^luse a little wine ^mfor the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and ⁿeven those that are not cannot remain hidden.