Leviticus 18

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'I am Yahweh your God.

Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: I am the Lord your God.

3 You must not do the things that the people do in Egypt, where you lived previously. You must not do the things that the people do in Canaan, the land to which I am taking you. Do not follow their customs.

You shall not act according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in which you have lived; nor shall you behave according to the habit of the region of Canaan, into which I will lead you; neither shall you walk in their ordinances.

4 My laws are what you must do, and my commandments are what you must keep, so that you walk in them, because I am Yahweh your God.

You shall accomplish my judgments, and you shall observe my precepts, and you shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God.

5 Therefore you must keep my decrees and my laws. If a person obeys them, he will live because of them. I am Yahweh.

Keep my laws and judgments; when a man does these, he shall live by them. I am the Lord.

6 No one must sleep with any close relative to uncover his nakedness. I am Yahweh.

No man shall approach her who is a close blood-relative to him, so as to uncover her nakedness. I am the Lord.

7 Do not dishonor your father by sleeping with your mother. She is your mother! You must not dishonor her.

You shall not expose the nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

8 Do not sleep with any of your father's wives; you must not dishonor your father like that.

You shall not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife; for it is the nakedness of your father.

9 Do not sleep with any sister of yours, whether she is the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether she was raised at your home or distant from you. You must not sleep with your sisters.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, whether from father or from mother, whether she was born at home or abroad.

10 Do not sleep with your son's daughter or with your daughter's daughter. That would be your own shame.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter, or your daughter’s daughter; for it is your own nakedness.

11 Do not sleep with your father's wife's daughter, who was born of your father. She is your sister, and you must not sleep with her.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, whom she bore to your father, and who is your sister.

12 Do not sleep with your father's sister. She is a close relative to your father.

You shall not expose the nakedness of your father’s sister; for she is the flesh of your father.

13 Do not sleep with your mother's sister. She is a close relative to your mother.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is the flesh of your mother.

14 Do not dishonor the brother of your father by sleeping with his wife. Do not go near her for that purpose; she is your aunt.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, nor shall you approach his wife, who is joined to you by affinity.

15 Do not sleep with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not sleep with her.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law, for she is your son’s wife; neither shall you expose her dishonor.

16 Do not sleep with your brother's wife; do not dishonor him in this way.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; for it is the nakedness of your brother.

17 Do not sleep with a woman and her daughter, or with her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter. They are close relatives to her, and sleeping with them would be wicked.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your wife and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, so as to uncover her dishonor; for they are her flesh, and such sexual intercourse is incest.

18 You must not marry your wife's sister as a second wife and sleep with her while your first wife is alive.

You shall not take your wife’s sister as a rival mistress; nor shall you uncover her nakedness, while your wife is still living.

19 Do not sleep with a woman during her menstruation. She is unclean during that time.

You shall not approach a woman who is undergoing menstruation, nor shall you uncover her foulness.

20 Do not sleep with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her in this way.

You shall not have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, nor shall you be defiled by the mingling of seed.

21 You must not give any of your children to put them into the fire, so that you sacrifice them to Molech, because you must not profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

You shall not give some of your seed to be consecrated to the idol Moloch, nor to pollute the name of your God. I am the Lord.

22 Do not sleep with other men as with a woman. This would be wicked.

You shall not commit sexual acts with a male, in place of sexual intercourse with a female, for this is an abomination.

23 Do not sleep with any animal and defile yourself with it. No woman must consider sleeping with any animal. This would be perversion.

You shall not commit sexual acts with any animal, nor shall you be defiled by it. A woman shall not lie down with a beast, nor commit sexual acts with it; for this is wickedness.

24 Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in all these ways the nations are defiled, the nations that I will drive out from before you.

Do not pollute yourselves with any of these things, by which all of the nations, which I will cast out in your sight, have been contaminated

25 The land became defiled, so I punished their sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

and by which the land has been polluted. I will visit the wickedness of the land, so that it may vomit out its inhabitants.

26 You, therefore, must keep my commandments and decrees, and you must not do any of these detestable things, neither the native-born Israelite nor the foreigner who lives among you.

Keep my ordinances and judgments, and do not do any of these abominations: the native born, as well as the settler, who sojourns among you.

27 For this is the wickedness that the people in the land have committed, those who lived here before you, and now the land is defiled.

For all these detestable things were done by the inhabitants of the land who were here before you, and they have polluted it.

28 Therefore be careful so that the land does not vomit you up also after you have defiled it, as it vomited out the people who were before you.

Therefore, beware, lest in a similar manner, it may vomit you out as well, if you do these same things, just as it vomited out the people who were before you.

29 Whoever does any of these detestable things, the persons who do such things will be cut off from among their people.

Every soul who shall commit any of these abominations shall perish from the midst of his people.

30 Therefore you must keep my command not to practice any of these detestable customs which were practiced here before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am Yahweh your God.'”

Keep my commandments. Do not be willing to do the things which have been done by those who were before you, and do not be polluted by these things. I am the Lord your God.