February 6

Leviticus 18:1 — 20:27

18  And Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘I am Jehovah YOUR God. 3 The way the land of Egypt does, in which YOU dwelt, YOU must not do; and the way the land of Canaan does, into which I am bringing YOU, YOU must not do; and in their statutes YOU must not walk. 4 My judicial decisions YOU should carry out, and my statutes YOU should keep so as to walk in them. I am Jehovah YOUR God. 5 And YOU must keep my statutes and my judicial decisions, which if a man will do, he must also live by means of them. I am Jehovah.

     6 “‘YOU people must not come near, any man of YOU, to any close fleshly relative of his to lay bare nakedness. I am Jehovah. 7 The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you must not lay bare. She is your mother. You must not lay bare her nakedness.
     8 “‘The nakedness of your father’s wife you must not lay bare. It is your father’s nakedness.
     9 “‘As for the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born in the same household or born outside it, you must not lay bare their nakedness.
     10 “‘As for the nakedness of the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter, you must not lay bare their nakedness, because they are your nakedness.
     11 “‘As for the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, the offspring of your father, she being your sister, you must not lay bare her nakedness.
     12 “‘The nakedness of your father’s sister you must not lay bare. She is the blood relation of your father.
     13 “‘The nakedness of your mother’s sister you must not lay bare, because she is a blood relation of your mother.
     14 “‘The nakedness of your father’s brother you must not lay bare. You must not come near his wife. She is your aunt.
     15 “‘The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you must not lay bare. She is your son’s wife. You must not lay her nakedness bare.
     16 “‘The nakedness of your brother’s wife you must not lay bare. It is your brother’s nakedness.
     17 “‘The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you must not lay bare. The daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take in order to lay her nakedness bare. They are cases of blood relationship. It is loose conduct.
     18 “‘And you must not take a woman in addition to her sister as a rival to uncover her nakedness, that is, besides her during her lifetime.
     19 “‘And you must not come near a woman during the menstruation of her impurity to lay her nakedness bare.
     20 “‘And you must not give your emission as semen to the wife of your associate to become unclean by it.
     21 “‘And you must not allow the devoting of any of your offspring to Molech. You must not profane the name of your God that way. I am Jehovah.
     22 “‘And you must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing.
     23 “‘And you must not give your emission to any beast to become unclean by it, and a woman should not stand before a beast to have connection with it. It is a violation of what is natural.

     24 “‘Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, because by all these things the nations whom I am sending out from before YOU have made themselves unclean. 25 Consequently the land is unclean, and I shall bring punishment for its error upon it, and the land will vomit its inhabitants out. 26 And YOU yourselves must keep my statutes and my judicial decisions, and YOU must not do any of all these detestable things, whether a native or an alien resident who is residing as an alien in YOUR midst. 27 For all these detestable things the men of the land who were before YOU have done, so that the land is unclean. 28 Then the land will not vomit YOU out for YOUR defiling it the same way as it will certainly vomit the nations out who were before YOU. 29 In case anyone does any of all these detestable things, then the souls doing them must be cut off from among their people. 30 And YOU must keep YOUR obligation to me not to carry on any of the detestable customs that have been carried on before YOU, that YOU may not make yourselves unclean by them. I am Jehovah YOUR God.’”

19  And Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘YOU should prove yourselves holy, because I Jehovah YOUR God am holy.

     3 “‘YOU should fear each one his mother and his father, and my sabbaths YOU should keep. I am Jehovah YOUR God. 4 Do not turn yourselves to valueless gods, and YOU must not make molten gods for yourselves. I am Jehovah YOUR God.

     5 “‘Now in case YOU should sacrifice a communion sacrifice to Jehovah, YOU should sacrifice it to gain approval for yourselves. 6 On the day of YOUR sacrifice and directly the next day it should be eaten, but what is left over till the third day should be burned in the fire. 7 If, though, it should at all be eaten on the third day, it is a foul thing. It will not be accepted with approval. 8 And the one eating it will answer for his error, because he has profaned a holy thing of Jehovah; and that soul must be cut off from his people.

     9 “‘And when YOU people reap the harvest of YOUR land, you must not reap the edge of your field completely, and the gleaning of your harvest you must not pick up. 10 Also, you must not gather the leftovers of your vineyard, and you must not pick up the scattered grapes of your vineyard. For the afflicted one and the alien resident you should leave them. I am Jehovah YOUR God.

     11 “‘YOU people must not steal, and YOU must not deceive, and YOU must not deal falsely anyone with his associate. 12 And YOU must not swear in my name to a lie, so that you do profane the name of your God. I am Jehovah. 13 You must not defraud your fellow, and you must not rob. The wages of a hired laborer should not stay all night with you until morning.
     14 “‘You must not call down evil upon a deaf man, and before a blind man you must not put an obstacle; and you must be in fear of your God. I am Jehovah.
     15 “‘YOU people must not do injustice in the judgment. You must not treat the lowly with partiality, and you must not prefer the person of a great one. With justice you should judge your associate.
     16 “‘You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering. You must not stand up against your fellow’s blood. I am Jehovah.
     17 “‘You must not hate your brother in your heart. You should by all means reprove your associate, that you may not bear sin along with him.
     18 “‘You must not take vengeance nor have a grudge against the sons of your people; and you must love your fellow as yourself. I am Jehovah.
 

     19 “‘YOU people should keep my statutes: You must not interbreed your domestic animals of two sorts. You must not sow your field with seeds of two sorts, and you must not put upon yourself a garment of two sorts of thread, mixed together.

     20 “‘Now in case a man lies down with a woman and has an emission of semen, when she is a maidservant designated for another man, and she has not in any way been redeemed nor has freedom been given her, punishment should take place. They should not be put to death, because she was not set free. 21 And he must bring his guilt offering to Jehovah to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram of guilt offering. 22 And the priest must make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Jehovah for his sin that he committed; and his sin that he committed must be forgiven him.

     23 “‘And in case YOU people come into the land, and YOU must plant any tree for food, YOU must also consider its fruitage impure as its “foreskin.” For three years it will continue uncircumcised for YOU. It should not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit will become a holy thing of festal exultation to Jehovah. 25 And in the fifth year YOU may eat its fruit in order to add its produce to yourselves. I am Jehovah YOUR God.

     26 “‘YOU must eat nothing along with blood.
         “‘YOU must not look for omens, and YOU must not practice magic.
     27 “‘YOU must not cut YOUR sidelocks short around, and you must not destroy the extremity of your beard.
     28 “‘And YOU must not make cuts in YOUR flesh for a deceased soul, and YOU must not put tattoo marking upon yourselves. I am Jehovah.
     29 “‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, in order that the land may not commit prostitution and the land actually be filled with loose morals.
     30 “‘My sabbaths YOU should keep, and YOU should stand in awe of my sanctuary. I am Jehovah.
     31 “‘Do not turn yourselves to the spirit mediums, and do not consult professional foretellers of events, so as to become unclean by them. I am Jehovah YOUR God.
     32 “‘Before gray hair you should rise up, and you must show consideration for the person of an old man, and you must be in fear of your God. I am Jehovah.

     33 “‘And in case an alien resident resides with you as an alien in YOUR land, YOU must not mistreat him. 34 The alien resident who resides as an alien with YOU should become to YOU like a native of YOURS; and you must love him as yourself, for YOU became alien residents in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah YOUR God.

     35 “‘YOU must not commit injustice in judging, in measuring, in weighing or in measuring liquids. 36 YOU should prove to have accurate scales, accurate weights, an accurate ephah and an accurate hin. Jehovah YOUR God I am, who have brought YOU out of the land of Egypt. 37 So YOU must keep all my statutes and all my judicial decisions, and YOU must do them. I am Jehovah.’”

20  And Jehovah went on speaking to Moses, saying: 2 “You are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Any man of the sons of Israel, and any alien resident who resides as an alien in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech, should be put to death without fail. The people of the land should pelt him to death with stones. 3 And as for me, I shall set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech for the purpose of defiling my holy place and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should deliberately hide their eyes from that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech by not putting him to death, 5 then I, for my part, shall certainly fix my face against that man and his family, and I shall indeed cut him and all those who have immoral intercourse along with him in having immoral intercourse with Molech off from among their people.

     6 “‘As for the soul who turns himself to the spirit mediums and the professional foretellers of events so as to have immoral intercourse with them, I shall certainly set my face against that soul and cut him off from among his people.
     7 “‘And YOU must sanctify yourselves and prove yourselves holy, because I am Jehovah YOUR God. 8 And YOU must keep my statutes and do them. I am Jehovah who is sanctifying YOU.
     9 “‘In case there should be any man who calls down evil upon his father and his mother, he should be put to death without fail. It is his father and his mother upon whom he has called down evil. His own blood is upon him.

     10 “‘Now a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife is one who commits adultery with the wife of his fellowman. He should be put to death without fail, the adulterer and the adulteress as well. 11 And a man who lies down with his father’s wife has laid bare the nakedness of his father. Both of them should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them. 12 And where a man lies down with his daughter-in-law, both of them should be put to death without fail. They have committed a violation of what is natural. Their own blood is upon them.

     13 “‘And when a man lies down with a male the same as one lies down with a woman, both of them have done a detestable thing. They should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.
     14 “‘And where a man takes a woman and her mother, it is loose conduct. They should burn him and them in the fire, in order that loose conduct may not continue in YOUR midst.
     15 “‘And where a man gives his seminal emission to a beast, he should be put to death without fail, and YOU should kill the beast. 16 And where a woman approaches any beast to have a connection with it, you must kill the woman and the beast. They should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.
     17 “‘And where a man takes his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, and he does see her nakedness, and she herself sees his nakedness, it is shame. So they must be cut off before the eyes of the sons of their people. It is the nakedness of his sister that he has laid bare. He should answer for his error.
     18 “‘And where a man lies down with a menstruating woman and does lay bare her nakedness, he has exposed her source, and she herself has laid bare the source of her blood. So both of them must be cut off from among their people.
     19 “‘And the nakedness of your mother’s sister and of your father’s sister you must not lay bare, because it is his blood relation that one has exposed. They should answer for their error. 20 And a man who lies down with his uncle’s wife has laid bare the nakedness of his uncle. They should answer for their sin. They should die childless. 21 And where a man takes his brother’s wife, it is something abhorrent. It is the nakedness of his brother that he has laid bare. They should become childless.

     22 “‘And YOU people must keep all my statutes and all my judicial decisions and do them, that the land to which I am bringing YOU to dwell in it may not vomit YOU out. 23 And YOU must not walk in the statutes of the nations whom I am sending out from before YOU, because they have done all these things and I abhor them. 24 Hence I said to YOU: “YOU, for YOUR part, will take possession of their ground, and I, for my part, shall give it to YOU to take possession of it, a land flowing with milk and honey. Jehovah YOUR God I am, who have divided YOU off from the peoples.” 25 And YOU must make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean and between the unclean fowl and the clean; and YOU must not make YOUR souls loathsome with the beast and the fowl and anything that moves on the ground that I have divided off for YOU in declaring them unclean. 26 And YOU must prove yourselves holy to me, because I Jehovah am holy; and I am proceeding to divide YOU off from the peoples to become mine.

     27 “‘And as for a man or woman in whom there proves to be a mediumistic spirit or spirit of prediction, they should be put to death without fail. They should pelt them to death with stones. Their own blood is upon them.’”