Leviticus 18
1 And Yhwh spake unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am Yhwh your God.
“Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God.
3 After 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 ordinances.
Don't follow the ways of Egypt where you used to live, and don't follow the ways of Canaan where I'm going to take you. Don't adopt their practices.
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am Yhwh your God.
Do what I tell you and keep my rules. I am the Lord your God.
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am Yhwh.
If you keep my rules and do what I tell you, you will live. I am the Lord.
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yhwh.
Don't have sex with a close relative.
7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Don't shame your father by having sex with your mother. She is your mother; don't have sex with her.
8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Don't have sex with any of your father's wives and shame your father.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
Don't have sex with your sister, whether she's your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, or whether she was born in the same house as you or somewhere else.
10 The 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.
Don't have sex with your granddaughter, your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, because that would be shameful thing for you.
11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Don't have sex with the daughter of any of your father's wives and your father, she is your sister.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
Don't have sex with your father's sister. She is a close relative of your father.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Don't have sex with your mother's sister. She is a close relative of your mother.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
Don't bring shame on your uncle by having sex with his wife. She is your aunt.
15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Don't have sex with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. Don't have sex with her.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
Don't have sex with your brother's wife and bring shame on your brother.
17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
Don't have sex with both a woman and her daughter. Don't have sex with her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter. They are her close relatives. That is something I loathe.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Don't marry your wife's sister and have sex with her while your wife is still alive. They will be hostile wives to one other.
19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Don't have sex with a woman during the time she is unclean because of her period.
20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Don't commit any sex act with any other man's wife. This would pollute you and make you unclean.
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Yhwh.
Don't give any of your children as a human sacrifice to Molech, for you must not disgrace the character of your God. I am the Lord.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Don't have sex with a man as with a woman. That is something disgusting.
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Don't have sex with any animal. This would pollute you and make you unclean.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
A woman must not give herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is something disgusting. Don't pollute yourselves and make yourselves unclean by doing anything like this. That's the reason I'm expelling these nations from the land—they polluted themselves because of all these practices.
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Even the land has become polluted, so I am punishing it for the sins committed by the people who live there, and the land will vomit them out.
26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
You, however, must do what I tell you and keep my rules. You must not do any of these disgusting acts, whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you.
27 ( For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled; )
The people who lived in the land before you practiced all these disgusting things, and the land became polluted.
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
If you pollute the land, it will vomit you out just like it did the nations before you.
29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Consequently anyone who does any of these disgusting things must be expelled from their people.
30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am Yhwh your God.
You must accept my demand that you don't follow any of these disgusting practices done before you arrived. Don't pollute yourselves and make yourselves unclean. I am the Lord your God.”
