3 Mose 18
1 Awurade ka kyerɛɛ Mose sɛ, “Ka kyerɛ Israelfoɔ no sɛ,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
2 ‘Mene Awurade mo Onyankopɔn,
“Speak to the Israeli people and tell them [that I, Yahweh, say this] this: I am Yahweh, your God.
3 enti mommmɔ mo bra sɛ abosonsomfoɔ. Monnyɛ sɛ nnipa a na mo ne wɔn te wɔ Misraim anaa Kanaan wɔ baabi a mede mo rekɔ no. Monnsuasua wɔn.
[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 Me mmara ne mʼahyɛdeɛ ara so na ɛsɛ sɛ modi; na ɛsɛ sɛ modi so pɛpɛɛpɛ, ɛfiri sɛ, mene Awurade mo Onyankopɔn.
You must obey all of my laws [DOU], because it is I, Yahweh your God, [who am commanding those laws].
5 Sɛ modi so a, mobɛnya nkwa. Mene Awurade.
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 “‘Mo mu biara nni ho ɛkwan sɛ ɔware obusuani a ɔbɛn no. Mene Awurade.
“Do not have sex with any of your close relatives. It is I, Yahweh, [who am commanding that].
7 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ abaayewa ware nʼagya anaasɛ ɔbabarima ware ne maame.
“Do not disgrace your father by having sex with your mother [DOU].
8 “‘Anaa nʼagya yerenom mu bi.
“Do not have sex with any of your father’s [other] wives, because that would disgrace your father.
9 “‘Anaa ne nuabaa anaa nʼagya babaa anaa ne maame babaa, sɛ wɔwoo no efie no mu anaa efie foforɔ mu.
“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 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ moware mo nanabaa, sɛ ɔyɛ mo babarima babaa anaa mo babaa babaa, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ obusuani.
“Do not have sex with your granddaughter, because that would disgrace you.
11 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ woware wo nuabaa a ɔyɛ wʼagya yerenom bi babaa.
“Do not have sex with your half-sister, because she is your sister.
12 “‘Anaa wo sewaa—wo agya nuabaa, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ wʼagya abusuani pɛɛ.
“Do not have sex with your father’s sister, because she is your father’s close relative.
13 “‘Saa ara na ɛnsɛ sɛ woware wo maame a ɔyɛ wo maame nuabaa, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ wo maame abusuani pɛɛ.
“Do not have sex with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.
14 “‘Wʼagya nuabarima yere nso, wonni ho ɛkwan sɛ woware no.
“Do not disgrace your (uncle/father’s brother) by having sex with his wife, because she is your aunt.
15 “‘Wonni ho ɛkwan sɛ woware wo babarima yere, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ wʼase.
“Do not have sex with [DOU] your daughter-in-law, because she is your son’s wife.
16 “‘Saa ara nso na wontumi nnware wo nuabarima yere, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ wo nuabarima dea.
“Do not have sex with your brother’s wife, because that would disgrace your brother.
17 “‘Worentumi nware ɔbaa bi nsane nware ne babaa anaa ne nanabaa nka ho, ɛfiri sɛ, wɔn nyinaa yɛ abusuafoɔ pɛɛ na ɛyɛ awudisɛm nso.
“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 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ woware anuanom mmaa baanu, ɛfiri sɛ, wɔbɛtwe kora. Na sɛ ɛba sɛ wo yere wu na woware ne nuabaa bi deɛ a, ɛyɛ.
“While your wife is still living, do not marry your wife’s sister and have sex with her.
19 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ wofa ɔbaa a wakɔ afikyire.
“Do not have sex with any woman while she is having her monthly menstrual period.
20 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ wofa wo yɔnko yere de gu wo ho fi.
“Do not (defile yourself/make yourself unacceptable to me) by having sex with someone else’s wife.
21 “‘Mfa wo mma mu biara mma Molek na ɔmmfa no mmɔ afɔdeɛ wɔ n’afɔrebukyia so. Ngu wo Onyankopɔn din ho fi, ɛfiri sɛ, mene Awurade.
“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 “‘Ɔbarima a ɔne ne yɔnko barima da yɛ akyiwadeɛ kɛseɛ na ɛyɛ bɔne a ɛso nso.
“No man should have sex with another man; that is detestable.
23 “‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ ɔbarima fa aboa de gu ne ho fi. Saa ara nso na ɛnsɛ sɛ ɔbaa de ne ho ma aboanini ma ɔfa no. Ɛyɛ akyiwadeɛ kɛseɛ.
“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 “‘Monngu mo ho fi wɔ saa akwan ahodoɔ yi biara so na yeinom ne deɛ abosonsomfoɔ yɛ. Esiane sɛ wɔyɛ saa enti, merebɛyi wɔn afiri asase a morekɔ so no so.
“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 Saa ahohwibra no agu ɔman mu no nyinaa ho fi; ɛno enti na meretwe nnipa a wɔte hɔ no aso na mɛyi wɔn afiri asase no so.
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 Ɛsɛ sɛ modi me mmara ne mʼahyɛdeɛ no nyinaa so pɛpɛɛpɛ na ɛnsɛ sɛ moyɛ saa akyiwadeɛ yi mu bi koraa. Saa mmara yi ka mo a wɔwoo mo Israelman mu ne ahɔhoɔ a wɔne mo te nyinaa.
You must all obey my laws and decrees. That includes you people who were born here and the foreigners who live among you.
27 Ampa ara, ɛfiri sɛ daa nnipa a wɔte saa asase a mede mo rekɔ so no so yɛ saa akyiwadeɛ yi enti, asase no ho agu fi.
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 Monnyɛ saa adeɛ no bi, anyɛ saa a, mɛpam mo afiri asase no so sɛdeɛ mɛyɛ wɔn a wɔte hɔ seesei no.
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 “‘Obiara a ɔbɛyɛ akyiwadeɛ yi mu bi no, wɔbɛtwa no asuo afiri ɔman yi mu.
“You must not allow people who do any of those detestable things to associate with you who are my people.
30 Enti monhwɛ sɛ mobɛdi me mmara no so na monnyɛ saa abusudeɛ kɛseɛ yi bi. Monnkɔyɛ abususɛm a wɔn a wɔte asase a morekɔ so no yɛ no bi mmfa ngu mo ho fi. Mene Awurade mo Onyankopɔn.’”
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].”
