Leviticus 18

1 The LORD said to Moses,

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.

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

3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.

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.

4 You shall do my ordinances. You shall keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.

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.

5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am the LORD.

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

6 “‘None of you shall approach any close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

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

7 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, nor the nakedness of your mother: she is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

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

8 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife. It is your father’s nakedness.

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

9 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad.

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.

10 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter, or of your daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness; for theirs is your own nakedness.

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

11 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister.

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.

12 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She is your father’s near kinswoman.

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

13 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s near kinswoman.

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

14 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife. She is your aunt.

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.

15 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

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

16 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness.

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

17 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near kinswomen. It is wickedness.

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.

18 “‘You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive.

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

19 “‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.

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

20 “‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.

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

21 “‘You shall not give any of your children as a sacrifice to Molech. You shall not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

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.

22 “‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable.

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

23 “‘You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.

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

24 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled.

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.

25 The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants.

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

26 You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you

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.

27 (for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled),

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.

28 that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

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.

29 “‘For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.

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

30 Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.’”

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.'”