Leviticus 18

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

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

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

3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein 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.

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 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: 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 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, 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 to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness: I [am] the LORD.

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

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

8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it [is] thy father’s nakedness.

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

9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, [whether she be] born at home, or born abroad, [even] their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

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 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, [even] their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs [is] thine own nakedness.

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

11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she [is] thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

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 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she [is] thy father’s near kinswoman.

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

13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she [is] thy mother’s near kinswoman.

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

14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she [is] thine 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 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 sleep with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not sleep with her.

16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it [is] thy brother’s nakedness.

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

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 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 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex [her], to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life [time].

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

19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

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

20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

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

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.

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 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.

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

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.

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

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 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 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

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

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, 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 all these abominations have the men of the land done, which [were] before you, and the land is 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 spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that [were] 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 whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit [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 shall ye keep mine ordinance, that [ye] commit not [any one] of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: 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.'”