Leviticus 18
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, I [am] Jehovah your God;
“Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God.
3 according to the work of the land of Egypt in which ye have dwelt ye do not, and according to the work of the land of Canaan whither I am bringing you in, ye do not, and in their statutes ye walk not.
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 'My judgments ye do, and My statutes ye keep, to walk in them; I [am] Jehovah your God;
Do what I tell you and keep my rules. I am the Lord your God.
5 and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments which man doth and liveth in them; I [am] Jehovah.
If you keep my rules and do what I tell you, you will live. I am the Lord.
6 'None of you unto any relation of his flesh doth draw near to uncover nakedness; I [am] Jehovah.
Don't have sex with a close relative.
7 'The nakedness of thy father and the nakedness of thy mother thou dost not uncover, she [is] thy mother; thou dost 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 the wife of thy father thou dost not uncover; it [is] the nakedness of thy father.
Don't have sex with any of your father's wives and shame your father.
9 'The nakedness of thy sister, daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home or born without; thou dost not uncover their nakedness.
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: thou dost not uncover their nakedness; for theirs [is] thy 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 a daughter of thy father's wife, begotten of thy father, she [is] thy sister; thou dost 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 'The nakedness of a sister of thy father thou dost not uncover; she [is] a relation of thy father.
Don't have sex with your father's sister. She is a close relative of your father.
13 'The nakedness of thy mother's sister thou dost not uncover; for she [is] thy mother's relation.
Don't have sex with your mother's sister. She is a close relative of your mother.
14 'The nakedness of thy father's brother thou dost not uncover; unto his wife thou dost not draw near; she [is] thine aunt.
Don't bring shame on your uncle by having sex with his wife. She is your aunt.
15 'The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law thou dost not uncover; she [is] thy son's wife; thou dost 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 'The nakedness of thy brother's wife thou dost not uncover; it [is] thy brother's nakedness.
Don't have sex with your brother's wife and bring shame on your brother.
17 'The nakedness of a woman and her daughter thou dost not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter thou dost not take to uncover her nakedness; they [are] her relations; 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 'And a woman unto another thou dost not take, to be an adversary, to uncover her nakedness beside her, in her life.
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 'And unto a woman in the separation of her uncleanness thou dost not draw near to uncover her nakedness.
Don't have sex with a woman during the time she is unclean because of her period.
20 'And unto the wife of thy fellow thou dost not give thy seed of copulation, for uncleanness with her.
Don't commit any sex act with any other man's wife. This would pollute you and make you unclean.
21 'And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.
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 'And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman; abomination it [is].
Don't have sex with a man as with a woman. That is something disgusting.
23 'And with any beast thou dost not give thy copulation, for uncleanness with it; and a woman doth not stand before a beast to lie down with it; confusion it [is].
Don't have sex with any animal. This would pollute you and make you unclean.
24 'Ye are not defiled with all these, for with all these have the nations been defiled which I am sending away from 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, and I charge its iniquity upon it, and the land vomiteth out its 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 and ye — ye have kept My statutes and My judgments, and do not [any] of all these abominations, the native and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst,
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 who [are] 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 and the land doth not vomit you out in your defiling it, as it hath vomited out the nation which [is] before you;
If you pollute the land, it will vomit you out just like it did the nations before you.
29 for any one who doth [any] of all these abominations — even the persons who are doing [so], have been cut off from the midst of their people;
Consequently anyone who does any of these disgusting things must be expelled from their people.
30 and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do [any] of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I [am] Jehovah 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.”
