Leviticus 18
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, I [am] the LORD your God.
“Speak to the Israeli people and tell them [that I, Yahweh, say this] this: I am Yahweh, your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt in which 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.
[So you must do what I want you to do]; you must not do the things that the people in Egypt, where you lived previously, do; and you must not do what is done by the people in Canaan, the land to which I am taking you. Do not imitate their behavior.
4 Ye shall perform my judgments, and keep my ordinances, to walk in them; I [am] the LORD your God.
You must obey all of my laws [DOU], because it is I, Yahweh your God, [who am commanding those laws].
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments: which if a man doeth, he shall live in them: I [am] the LORD.
If you obey all my laws and decrees, you will continue to remain alive [for a long time]. I, Yahweh, [am the one who is promising that to you]. [These are some of my laws]:
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness: I am the LORD.
“Do not have sex with any of your close relatives. It is I, Yahweh, [who am commanding that].
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.
“Do not disgrace your father by having sex with your mother [DOU].
8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it [is] thy father's nakedness.
“Do not have sex with any of your father’s [other] wives, because that would disgrace your father.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, [whether] born at home, or born abroad, [even] their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
“Do not have sex with your sister or your stepsister; it does not matter whether she was born in your house 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] thy own nakedness.
“Do not have sex with your granddaughter, because that would disgrace you.
11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten by thy father, (she [is] thy sister) thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
“Do not have sex with your half-sister, because she is your sister.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she [is] thy father's near kinswoman.
“Do not have sex with your father’s sister, because she is your father’s close relative.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she [is] thy mother's near kinswoman.
“Do not have sex with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she [is] thy aunt.
“Do not disgrace your (uncle/father’s brother) by having sex with his wife, because 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.
“Do not have sex with [DOU] your daughter-in-law, because she is your son’s wife.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it [is] thy brother's nakedness.
“Do not have sex with your brother’s wife, because that would disgrace 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.
“Do not have sex with the daughter or granddaughter of any woman whom you have previously had sex with; they are [her] (OR, [your]) close relatives. Having sex with any of them would be a wicked thing to do.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex [her], to uncover her nakedness besides the other in her life -[time].
“While your wife is still living, do not marry your wife’s sister and have sex with her.
19 Also thou shalt not approach to a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
“Do not have sex with any woman while she is having her monthly menstrual period.
20 Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her.
“Do not (defile yourself/make yourself unacceptable to me) by having sex with someone else’s wife.
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] the LORD.
“Do not give any of your children to be burned to be a sacrifice to the god Molech, because that would show that you do not revere me [MTY], Yahweh, your God.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.
“No man should have sex with another man; that is detestable.
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.
“No one, man or woman, should (defile himself/cause himself to become unacceptable to me) by having sex with an animal; that is a perverse act.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
“Do not (defile yourselves/cause yourselves to become unacceptable to me) in any of those ways, because doing those things is how the people of the nations that I expelled as you advanced became (unacceptable to me/defiled).
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit its iniquity upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
They even caused the land to become defiled, so I punished them for their sins, and [it was as though] the land vomited out the people who lived there.
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 must all obey my laws and decrees. That includes you people who were born here and the foreigners who live among you.
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, who [were] before you, and the land is defiled; )
All those detestable things were done by the people who lived in this land before you came here, and they caused the land to become defiled.
28 That the land may not vomit you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nations that [were] before you.
So if you defile the land, I will get rid of [MET] you like I got rid of the people of those nations that were here before you came.
29 For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit [them] shall be cut off from among their people.
“You must not allow people who do any of those detestable things to associate with you who are my people.
30 Therefore shall ye keep my ordinance, that [ye] commit not [any one] of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves in them; I [am] the LORD your God.
Obey everything that I command you to do, and do not defile yourselves by practicing any of the detestable customs that were practiced [by the people who were there] before you came. I, Yahweh your God, [am the one who is commanding these things].”
