Rules about Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel: I am the Lord your God. ³In the past, you lived in Egypt. You must not do the things that were done in that country! I am leading you to Canaan. You must not do the things that are done in that country! Don’t follow their customs. ⁴You must obey my rules and follow my laws! Be sure to follow those rules! Why? Because I am the Lord your God. ⁵So you must obey my laws and rules. If a person obeys my laws and rules, he will live! I am the Lord! ⁶“You must never have sexual relations with* your close relatives! I am the Lord. ⁷“You must never have sexual relations with* your father or mother. This woman is your mother. So you must not have sexual relations with her. ⁸You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife {even if she is not your mother}. Why? Because that is like having sexual relations with your father.* ⁹“You must not have sexual relations with* your sister. It doesn’t matter if she is the daughter of your father or your mother. And it does not matter if your sister was born in {your} house* or at another place. ¹⁰“You must not have sexual relations with* your granddaughter. They are a part of you! ¹¹“If your father and his wife* have a daughter, then she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with* her. ¹²“You must not have sexual relations with* your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relative. ¹³You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴You must not have sexual relations with your father’s brother. You must not go near your uncle’s wife {for sexual relations}. She is your aunt. ¹⁵“You must not have sexual relations with* your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You must not have sexual relations with her. ¹⁶“You must not have sexual relations with* your brother’s wife. That would be like having sexual relations with your brother.* ¹⁷“You must not have sexual relations with* a mother and her daughter. And you must not have sexual relations with this woman’s granddaughter. It does not matter if this granddaughter is the daughter of this woman’s son or daughter. Her granddaughters are her close relatives. It is wrong {to have sexual relations with them}. ¹⁸“While your wife is still living, you must not take her sister as {another} wife. This will make the sisters become enemies. You must not have sexual relations with* your wife’s sister. ¹⁹“Also you must not go near a woman to have sexual relations with* her during her monthly time of bleeding. She is unclean* during this time. ²⁰“And you must not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife. This will only make you filthy*! ²¹“You must not give any of your children through {the fire} to Molech.* If you do this, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God! I am the Lord. ²²“You must not have sexual relations with a man as with a woman. That is a terrible sin! ²³“You must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will only make you filthy*! Also, a woman must not have sexual relations with an animal. It is against nature! ²⁴“Don’t make yourself unclean* with any of those wrong things! I am throwing nations out of their countries and giving their land to you! Why? Because those people did those terrible sins! ²⁵Theymade the land filthy*! Now the land {is sick of those things}! And the land is vomiting out the people who lived there! ²⁶“So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of those terrible sins. Those rules are for the citizens of Israel, and they are for the people living among you! ²⁷The people who lived in the land before you did all those terrible things. So the land became filthy*! ²⁸{If you do these things,} then you will make the land filthy. And it will vomit you out like it vomited out the nations that were {there} before you. ²⁹If any person does any of those terrible sins, then that person must be separated from his people! ³⁰Other people have done those terrible sins. But you must obey my laws! You must not do any of those terrible sins! Don’t make yourself filthy with those terrible sins! I am the Lord your God.”

have sexual relations with Literally, “uncover the nakedness of.” sexual relations … father Literally, “She is the nakedness of your father.” Husband and wife are like one person. See Gen 2:24. sister was born in {your} house Or, “household.” If a man had many wives, each wife and her children had their own tent or part of the house. They were like a small family group within the family. So this probably means a person was not supposed to have sexual relations with any of his father’s daughters, whether sister or half-sister. his wife This probably means “your stepmother.” sexual relations … brother Literally, “She is the nakedness of your brother.” filthy Or, “polluted” or “unclean.” unclean Or, “unacceptable.” Not pure or not able to be used in worshiping God. See Lev. 11–15 for the rules about clean and unclean things. Molech A false God. People often killed their children as part of their worship to Molech.

Israel Belongs to God

19 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell all the people of Israel: I am the Lord your God! I am holy, so you must be holy! ³“Each person among you must honor his mother and father and keep my special days of rest.* I am the Lord your God! ⁴“Don’t worship idols.* Don’t make melted statues of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God! ⁵“When you offer a sacrifice* of fellowship offerings to the Lord, you must offer it in the right way so you will be accepted. ⁶You may eat it the same day you offer it, and also on the next day. But if any of that sacrifice is left on the third day, then you must burn it in the fire. ⁷You must not eat any of that sacrifice on the third day. It will be unclean.* It will not be accepted. ⁸A person will be guilty of sin if he does that! Why? Because he did not respect the holy things that belong to the Lord. That person must be separated from his people. ⁹“When you cut your crops at harvest time, don’t cut all the way to the corners of your fields. And if grain falls on the ground, you must not gather up that grain. ¹⁰Don’t pick all the grapes in your vineyards and don’t pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Why? Because you must leave those things for poor people and for people traveling through your country. I am the Lord your God! ¹¹“You must not steal. You must not cheat people. You must not lie to each other. ¹²You must not use my name to make false promises. If you do that, then you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord! ¹³“You must not do bad things to your neighbor. You must not rob {him}. You must not hold a hired worker’s salary all night until morning.* ¹⁴“You must not curse a deaf man. You must not put something in front of a blind person to make him fall. But you must respect your God. I am the Lord! ¹⁵“You must be fair in judgment. You must not show special favor to poor people. And you must not show special favor to important people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You must not go around spreading false stories against other people. Don’t do anything that would put your neighbor’s life in danger. I am the Lord! ¹⁷“You must not hate your brother in your heart. If your neighbor does something wrong, then talk to him about it. But forgive him! ¹⁸Forget about the wrong things people do {to you}. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord! ¹⁹“You must obey my laws. You must not breed together two kinds of animals. You must not sow your field with two kinds of seed. You must not wear clothing made from two kinds of material mixed together. ²⁰“It may happen that a man has sexual relations with a woman who is the slave of {another} man. But this slave woman has not been bought or given her freedom. If this happens, then there must be punishment. But they will not be put to death. Why? Because the woman was not free. ²¹The man must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.* The man must bring a ram for a guilt offering. ²²The priest will do the things that will make the man pure.* The priest will offer the ram as a guilt offering before the Lord. It will be for the sins the man did. Then the man will be forgiven for the sins he did. ²³“In the future, you will enter your country. At that time, you will plant many kinds of trees for food. After planting a tree, you must wait three years before you can use any of the fruit from that tree. You must not use that fruit. ²⁴In the fourth year, the fruit from that tree will be the Lord’s. It will be a holy offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵Then, in the fifth year, you can eat the fruit from that tree. And the tree will produce more and more fruit for you. I am the Lord your God! ²⁶“You must not eat any meat with blood still in it. “You must not try to use magic and other things to predict the future. ²⁷“You must not round off the hair that grows on the side of your face. You must not cut your beard that grows on the side of your face. ²⁸You must not cut your body as a way to remember dead people. You must not make any tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord! ²⁹“Don’t make your daughter become a prostitute.* That only shows you don’t respect her! Don’t let people be prostitutes in your country. Don’t let your country be filled with that kind of sin. ³⁰“You must not work on my special days of rest.* You must honor my holy place. I am the Lord! ³¹“Don’t go to mediums* or wizards* for advice. Don’t go to them; they will only make you unclean.* I am the Lord your God! ³²“Show honor to old people. Stand up when they come into the room. Show respect to your God. I am the Lord! ³³“Don’t do bad things to foreigners living in your country! ³⁴You must treat foreigners the same as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners like you love yourselves. Why? Because you were foreigners one time—in Egypt. I am the Lord your God! ³⁵“You must be fair when you judge people. And you must be fair when you measure and weigh things. ³⁶Your baskets should be the right size. Your jars should hold the right amount of liquids. Your weights and balances should weigh things correctly. I am the Lord your God! I brought you out from the land of Egypt! ³⁷“You must remember all my laws and rules. And you must obey them. I am the Lord!”

special days of rest Or, “Sabbaths.” This might mean Saturday, or it might mean all of the special days when the people were not supposed to work. idols Statues of false gods that people worshiped. sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually, it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. sacrifice … unclean Or “offensive, bad, rotten.” This means the meat is not good to eat as part of a sacrifice. You must not hold … until morning Workers were paid at the end of each day for the work they did that day. See Mt. 20:1–16. Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. make … pure Literally, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.” prostitute(s) A woman who sells her body for sex. medium(s) A person who tries to communicate with the spirits of dead people. wizard(s) A person who tries to use evil spirits to do magic. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. unclean Or, “unacceptable.” Not pure or not able to be used in worshiping God. See Lev. 11–15 for the rules about clean and unclean things.