Leviticus 20:1; Leviticus 20:2–22:33

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Leviticus 20:1

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,


Leviticus 20:2–22:33

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. 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. 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, 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.

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. wConsecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. xKeep my statutes and do them; yI am the Lord who sanctifies you. 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 iIf 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 oYou 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 xA 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.

Holiness and the Priests

And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, aNo one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. bThey shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. They shall be holy to their God and cnot profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, dthe bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. eThey shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman fdivorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for gI, the Lord, who sanctify you, ham holy. And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ishe shall be burned with fire.

10 jThe priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, kshall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not lgo in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 mHe shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he nprofane the sanctuary of his God, for the oconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.3 14 A widow, por a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin4 of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for gI am the Lord who sanctifies him.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may qapproach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man rblind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face sor a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a rdefect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or tcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to uoffer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of vthe most holy and of the wholy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not xprofane my sanctuaries,5 yfor I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they zabstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they adedicate to me, so that they do not bprofane my holy name: I am the Lord. Say to them, If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while che has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a ddischarge may eat of the holy things euntil he is clean. fWhoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ga man who has had an emission of semen, and hwhoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ia person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has jbathed his body in water. When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because kthey are his food. lHe shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord. They shall therefore keep my charge, mlest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: nI am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 oA lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slave6 as his property for money, the slave7 may eat of it, and panyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and qreturns to her father’s house, ras in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 sAnd if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add tthe fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They ushall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, 16 and so cause them mto bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: nfor I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

Acceptable Offerings

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, vWhen any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a wmale without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 xYou shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone yoffers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord zto fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals ablind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ban itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food coffering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part dtoo long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as ethe bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a fblemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 gWhen an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep hand her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a isacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; jyou shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 kSo you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 lAnd you shall not profane my holy name, that mI may be sanctified among the people of Israel. nI am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt oto be your God: I am the Lord.