Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^qI am the Lord your God. 3 ^rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and ^syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 ^tYou shall follow my rules¹ and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^qI am the Lord your God. 5 ^tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

6 “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. 7 ^vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 ^wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 ^xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 ^yYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 ^zYou 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 of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a ^arival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness ^bwhile her sister is still alive.

19 ^c“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 ^dAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children to ^eoffer them² to ^fMolech, and so ^gprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 ^hYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 ⁱAnd you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is ^jperversion.

24 ^k“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^lfor by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the ^mland became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ⁿvomited out its inhabitants. 26 But ^oyou shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^pnative or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 ^qSo keep my charge never to practice ^rany of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^sI am the Lord your God.”

The Lord Is Holy

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ^tYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 ^uEvery one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^vyou shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 ^wDo not turn to idols ^xor make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

5 ^y“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so ^zthat you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is ^atainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall ^bbear his iniquity, because ^che has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

9 ^d“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

11 ^e“You shall not steal; ^fyou shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 ^gYou shall not swear by my name falsely, and so ^hprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

13 ⁱ“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. ^jThe wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 ^kYou shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall ^lfear your God: I am the Lord.

15 ^m“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 ⁿYou shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not ^ostand up against the life¹ of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

17 ^p“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but ^qyou shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you ^rincur sin because of him. 18 ^sYou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but ^tyou shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19 ^u“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. ^vYou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

20 “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21 but ^whe shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.² Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.

26 ^x“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. ^yYou shall not interpret omens or ^ztell fortunes. 27 ^aYou shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any ^bcuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 ^c“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30 ^dYou shall keep my Sabbaths and ^ereverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 ^f“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 ^g“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall ^hfear your God: I am the Lord.

33 ⁱ“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 ^jYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and ^kyou shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 ^l“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 ^mYou shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And ⁿyou shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20 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.”

Holiness and the Priests

21 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, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 ^bThey shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 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. 7 ^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. 8 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. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ⁱshe shall be burned with fire.

10 ^j“The 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.¹ 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 virgin² 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,^{3 y}for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “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. 3 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. 4 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, 5 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— 6 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. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because ^kthey are his food. 8 ^lHe shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 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 ^o“A 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 slave¹ as his property for money, the slave² 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.”