Leviticus
Chapter 20

1

The LORD said to Moses,

2

"Tell the Israelites: Anyone, whether an Israelite or an alien residing in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall be put to death. Let his fellow citizens stone him.

3

I myself will turn against such a man and cut him off from the body of his people; for in giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.

4

Even if his fellow citizens connive at such a man's crime of giving his offspring to Molech, and fail to put him to death,

5

I myself will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who join him in his wanton worship of Molech.

6

Should anyone turn to mediums and fortune-tellers and follow their wanton ways, I will turn against such a one and cut him off from his people.

7

Sanctify yourselves, then, and be holy; for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

8

Be careful, therefore, to observe what I, the LORD, who make you holy, have prescribed.

9

"Anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death; since he has cursed his father or mother, he has forfeited his life.

10

If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.

11

If a man disgraces his father by lying with his father's wife, both the man and his stepmother shall be put to death; they have forfeited their lives.

12

If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; since they have committed an abhorrent deed, they have forfeited their lives.

13

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.

14

If a man marries a woman and her mother also, the man and the two women as well shall be burned to death for their shameful conduct, so that such shamefulness may not be found among you.

15

If a man has carnal relations with an animal, the man shall be put to death, and the animal shall be slain.

16

If a woman goes up to any animal to mate with it, the woman and the animal shall be slain; let them both be put to death; their lives are forfeit.

17

If a man consummates marriage with his sister or his half-sister, they shall be publicly cut off from their people for this shameful deed; the man shall pay the penalty of having had intercourse with his own sister.

18

If a man lies in sexual intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them shall be cut off from their people, because they have laid bare the flowing fountain of her blood.

19

You shall not have intercourse with your mother's sister or your father's sister; whoever does so shall pay the penalty of incest.

20

If a man disgraces his uncle by having intercourse with his uncle's wife, the man and his aunt shall pay the penalty by dying childless.

21

If a man marries his brother's wife and thus disgraces his brother, they shall be childless because of this incest.

22

"Be careful to observe all my statutes and all my decrees; otherwise the land where I am bringing you to dwell will vomit you out.

23

Do not conform, therefore, to the customs of the nations whom I am driving out of your way, because all these things that they have done have filled me with disgust for them.

24

But to you I have said: Their land shall be your possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am giving it to you as your own, I, the LORD, your God, who have set you apart from the other nations.

25

You, too, must set apart, then, the clean animals from the unclean, and the clean birds from the unclean, so that you may not be contaminated with the uncleanness of any beast or bird or of any swarming creature in the land that I have set apart for you.

26

To me, therefore, you shall be sacred; for I, the LORD, am sacred, I, who have set you apart from the other nations to be my own.

27

¹ "A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortune-teller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death."

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Footnotes

¹ [27] This verse is best read immediately after Lev 20:6.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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