Leviticus 18

Unlawful Sexual Relationsⓘ

Do not follow Egypt or Canaan¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the Lord your God. ³You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.

⁴You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them.^a I am the Lord.

Forbidden sexual relations with relatives⁶None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations.^b I am the Lord.

⁷You must not expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

⁸You must not have sexual relations with your fatherʼs wife; it would dishonor your father.

⁹You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your fatherʼs daughter or your motherʼs daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

¹⁰You must not have sexual relations with your sonʼs daughter or your daughterʼs daughter, for that would shame your family.

¹¹You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your fatherʼs wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

¹²You must not have sexual relations with your fatherʼs sister; she is your fatherʼs close relative.

¹³You must not have sexual relations with your motherʼs sister, for she is your motherʼs close relative.

¹⁴You must not dishonor your fatherʼs brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her; she is your aunt.

¹⁵You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your sonʼs wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶You must not have sexual relations with your brotherʼs wife; that would shame your brother.

¹⁷You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her sonʼs daughter or her daughterʼs daughter and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved.

¹⁸You must not take your wifeʼs sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.

Other forbidden sexual and religious practices¹⁹You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period.

²⁰You must not lie carnally with your neighborʼs wife and thus defile yourself with her.

²¹You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed^c to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²²You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

²³You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.

The land vomits out its defilers²⁴Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. ²⁵Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.

²⁶But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. ²⁷For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. ²⁸So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you.

²⁹Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. ³⁰You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.”