Leviticus 18
18
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am Jehovah your God. 3After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes. 4Mine ordinances shall ye do, and my statutes shall ye keep, to walk therein: I am Jehovah your God. 5Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am Jehovah.
6None of you shall approach to any that are near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am Jehovah. 7The nakedness of thy father, even the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover; it is thy father’s nakedness. 9The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. 10The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. 11The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 12Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. 13Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman. 14Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. 15Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 16Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. 17Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; thou shalt not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are near kinswomen: it is wickedness. 18And thou shalt not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, besides the other in her life-time.
19And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness. 20And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor’s wife, to defile thyself with her. 21And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah. 22Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. 23And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you; 25and the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants. 26Ye therefore shall keep my statutes and mine ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you 27(for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land is defiled); 28that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye practise not any of these abominable customs, which were practised before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am Jehovah your God.
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Leviticus 18: ASV
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Leviticus 18
18
Rules About Sexual Relations
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. 3You must not follow the customs of Egypt where you lived, and you must not follow the customs of the Canaanites where I am leading you. You must not live the way they do. 4You must obey my rules and follow my laws. Be sure to follow my rules because I am the Lord your God. 5You must obey my rules and my laws, because whoever obeys them will live. I am the Lord.
6“You must never have sexual relations with#18:6 have sexual relations with Literally, “uncover the nakedness of.” Also in verses 7, 9-12, 15-19. your close relatives. I am the Lord.
7“You must never have sexual relations with your father or mother. She is your mother, so you must not have sexual relations with her. 8You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother, because that is like having sexual relations with your father.#18:8 sexual relations … father Literally, “She is the nakedness of your father.” Husband and wife are like one person. See Gen. 2:24.
9“You must not have sexual relations with your sister. It doesn’t matter if she is the daughter of your father or your mother. And it doesn’t matter if your sister was born in your house#18:9 sister was born in your house Or “household.” If a man had many wives, each wife and her children had their own tent or part of the house. So this probably means a man was not supposed to have sexual relations with any of his father’s daughters, whether sister or half-sister. or at some other place.
10“You must not have sexual relations with your granddaughter. It doesn’t matter whether she is the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter—they are all a part of you!
11“If your father and his wife#18:11 his wife This probably means “your stepmother.” have a daughter, she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.
12“You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relative. 13You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relative. 14You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your father’s brother. You must not go near your uncle’s wife for sexual relations. She is your aunt.
15“You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.
16“You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife. That would be like having sexual relations with your brother.#18:16 sexual relations … brother Literally, “She is the nakedness of your brother.”
17“You must not have sexual relations with a mother and her daughter or her granddaughter. It doesn’t matter if this granddaughter is the daughter of this woman’s son or daughter. Her granddaughters are her close relatives. It is wrong to do this.
18“While your wife is still living, you must not take her sister as another wife. This will make the sisters become enemies. You must not have sexual relations with your wife’s sister.
19“You must not go near a woman to have sexual relations with her during her monthly time of bleeding. She is unclean during this time.
20“You must not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife. This will only make you filthy.#18:20 filthy Or “polluted” or “unclean.” Also in verses 23, 25, 27.
21“You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22“Men, you must not have sexual relations with another man as with a woman. That is a terrible sin!
23“Men, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will make you filthy. And women, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. It is against nature!
24“Don’t make yourself unclean by doing any of these wrong things! I am throwing nations off their land and giving it to you because they did those terrible sins. 25They made the land filthy. Now the land is sick of those things, and it will vomit out the people who live there.
26“So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of these terrible sins. These rules are for the citizens of Israel and the people living among you. 27Those who lived in the land before you have done all these terrible things. So the land became filthy. 28If you do these things, you will make the land filthy. And it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were there before you. 29Whoever does any of these terrible sins must be separated from their people! 30Other people have done these terrible sins, but you must obey my laws. You must not do any of these terrible sins. Do not make yourself filthy with these terrible sins. I am the Lord your God.”
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