1The Lord said to Moses,2‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “I am the Lord your God.3You 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.4You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God.5Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.6‘ “No-one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.7‘ “Do not dishonour your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.8‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonour your father.9‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.10‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonour you.11‘ “Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.12‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.13‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.14‘ “Do not dishonour your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.15‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.16‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonour your brother.17‘ “Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.18‘ “Do not take your wife’s sister 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 of her monthly period.20‘ “Do not have sexual relations with your neighbour’s wife and defile yourself with her.21‘ “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.22‘ “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.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.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 became defiled.25Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.26But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things,27for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled.28And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out 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.30Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practised before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.” ’
Leviticus 18
English Standard Version
Unlawful Sexual Relations
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. (Ex 6:6; Le 11:44; Le 19:4; Le 20:7)3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. (Ex 23:24; De 12:30; Eze 20:7; Eze 23:8)4You shall follow my rules[1] and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. (Le 18:2; Le 18:26; Le 19:19; Le 19:37; Le 20:8; Le 20:22; Le 25:18; De 4:1; De 4:6; De 5:1; De 6:1; De 12:1; Eze 20:19)5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord. (Le 18:4; Eze 20:11; Eze 20:13; Eze 20:21; Lu 10:28; Ro 10:5; Ga 3:12)6“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord.7You 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. (Le 20:11)8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. (Ge 49:4; De 22:30; De 27:20; Am 2:7; 1Co 5:1)9You 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. (2Sa 13:12; Eze 22:11)10You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness.11You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister.12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative.13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative.14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. (Ge 38:26; Eze 22:11)16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. (Ge 38:8; De 25:5; Mt 22:24; Mr 12:19; Lu 20:28)17You 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.18And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive. (Ge 31:50; 1Sa 1:6)19“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. (Le 15:24; Le 20:18; Eze 18:6; Eze 22:10)20And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. (Ex 20:14)21You shall not give any of your children to offer them[2] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. (Le 19:12; Le 20:2; Le 20:3; Le 21:6; Le 22:2; Le 22:32; De 18:10; 1Ki 11:7; 1Ki 11:33; Eze 36:20; Eze 36:22; Mal 1:12; Ac 7:43)22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Ge 19:5; Le 20:13; Jud 19:22; Ro 1:27; 1Co 6:9; 1Ti 1:9)23And 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 perversion. (Ex 22:19; Le 20:12; Le 20:15)24“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, (Le 18:30; Le 20:23; De 18:12; Mt 15:19; Mr 7:21)25and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. (Le 20:22; Nu 35:34; Jer 2:7; Eze 36:17)26But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (Le 16:29; Le 18:4)27(for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean),28lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.29For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.30So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Le 18:2; Le 18:3; Le 18:26; Le 20:23; Le 22:9; De 18:9)