Warning Against Worshiping Idols

20 The Lord said to Moses, ²“You must also tell the people of Israel these things: A person in your country might give one of his children to the false god Molech.* That person must be killed! It does not matter if that person is a citizen of Israel or a foreigner living in Israel, you must throw stones at that person and kill him. ³I will be against that person! I will separate him from his people. Why? Because he gave his children to Molech. He showed that he did not respect my holy name. And he made my holy place unclean.* ⁴Maybe the common people will ignore that person. Maybe they will not kill that person who gave his children to Molech. ⁵But I will be against that person and his family! I will separate him from his people. I will separate any person who is unfaithful to me and chases after Molech. ⁶“I will be against any person who goes to mediums* and wizards* for advice. That person is being unfaithful to me. So I will separate that person from his people. ⁷“Be special. Make yourselves holy.*Why? Because {I am holy}! I am the Lord your God. ⁸Remember and obey my laws. I am the Lord. And I have made you {my} special {people}. ⁹“If any person curses* his father or mother, that person must be put to death. He cursed his father or mother, so he is responsible for his own death!*

Punishments for Sexual Sins

¹⁰“If a man has sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife, then both the man and the woman are guilty of adultery. So both the man and the woman must be put to death! ¹¹If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, then both the man and the woman must be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.* It is as if that man had had sexual relations with his father!* ¹²“If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done a very bad sexual sin! They are responsible for their own death.* ¹³“If a man has sexual relations with another man as with a woman, then these two men have done a terrible sin. They must be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.* ¹⁴“It is a sexual sin if a man has sexual relations with a woman and her mother. The people must burn that man and the two women in fire! Don’t let this sexual sin happen among your people! ¹⁵“If a man has sexual relations with an animal, that man must be put to death. And you must also kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman has sexual relations with an animal, then you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.* ¹⁷“If a brother and his sister or half sister marry each other and have sexual relations with each other,* it is a shameful thing! They must be punished in public! They must be separated from their people! The man who has sexual relations with his sister must be punished for his sin!* ¹⁸“If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly time of bleeding, then both the woman and the man must be separated from their people. They sinned because they exposed her source of blood. ¹⁹“You must not have sexual relations with* your mother’s sister or your father’s sister. That is a sin of incest.* You must be punished for your sins.* ²⁰“A man must not have sexual relations with his uncle’s wife. It would be like having sexual relations with his uncle. That man and his uncle’s wife will be punished for their sins. They will die without children.* ²¹It is wrong for a man to take his brother’s wife. It would be like having sexual relations with* his brother! They will have no children. ²²“You must remember all my laws and rules. And you must obey them. I am leading you to your land. You will live in that country. If you obey my laws and rules, then that land will not vomit you out. ²³I am forcing other people to leave that country. Why? Because those people did all of those sins! I hate those {sins}! So don’t live the way those people lived! ²⁴“I have told you that you will get their land. I will give their land to you. It will be your land! It is a land filled with many good things.* I am the Lord your God! “{I have made you my special people.} I have treated you differently from other people. ²⁵So you must treat clean* animals differently from unclean* animals. You must treat clean birds differently from unclean birds. Don’t eat any of those unclean birds, and animals, and things that crawl on the ground. I have made those things unclean. ²⁶I have made you my special people. So you must be holy for me! Why? Because I am the Lord, and I am holy! ²⁷“A man or a woman who is a medium* or a wizard,* must be put to death. The people must kill them with stones. They must be killed.*”

Molech A false god. People often killed their children as part of their worship to Molech. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. 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. holy Set aside or chosen for a special purpose. curse To ask for bad things to happen to someone. he … death Literally, “his blood is on him.” They … death Literally, “Their blood is on them.” man … father Literally, “He uncovered his father’s nakedness.” sexual relations with each other Literally, “he sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness.” The man … sin Literally, “he will carry his guilt.” have sexual relations with Literally, “uncover the nakedness of.” incest Having sexual relations with a close relative. you … sins Literally, “You will carry your guilt.” That man … children Literally, “They must bear their childlessness. They will die.” filled … things Literally, “flowing with milk and honey.” clean Pure or acceptable to God for worship. They must be killed Literally, “Their blood is on them.”

Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: A priest must not make himself unclean* by touching a dead person. ²But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, {then he can touch the dead body}. The priest can make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother or ³his unmarried* sister. (This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her {if she dies}.) ⁴But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only one of his slaves.* ⁵“Priests must not shave their heads bald. Priests must not shave off the edges of their beards. Priests must not make any cuts in their bodies. ⁶Priests must be holy for their God. They must show respect for God’s name. Why? Because they carry the bread and the offerings by fire to the Lord. So they must be holy.* ⁷“A priest serves God in a special way. So a priest must not marry a woman who had sexual relations with some other man. A priest must not marry a prostitute* or a divorced woman. ⁸A priest serves God in a special way. So you must treat him in a special way. Why? Because he carries holy things! He brings the holy bread to God, and I am holy! I am the Lord, and I make you holy! ⁹“If a priest’s daughter becomes a prostitute,* then she ruins her reputation, and she brings shame to her father! So she must be burned. ¹⁰“The high priest was chosen from among his brothers. The anointing oil* was poured on his head. In this way, he was chosen for the special job of being high priest. He was chosen to wear the special clothes. {So he must not do things to show his sadness in public.} He must not let his hair grow wild. He must not tear his clothes. ¹¹He must not make himself unclean* {by touching a dead body}. He must not go near a dead body, even if it is his own father or mother. ¹²The high priest must not go out of God’s holy place. {Then he might become unclean,} and {then he might} make God’s holy place unclean. The anointing oil was poured on the high priest’s head. This separated him {from the rest of the people}. I am the Lord! ¹³“The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin.* ¹⁴The high priest must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with another man. The high priest must not marry a prostitute,* a divorced woman, or a widow. The high priest must marry a virgin from his own people. ¹⁵In this way, people will show respect for his children.* I, the Lord, have separated the high priest for his special work.” ¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷“Tell Aaron: If any of your descendants have anything wrong with them, then they must not carry the special bread to God. ¹⁸Any man who has something wrong with him must not {serve as priest and} bring sacrifices to me. These men cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with bad scars on their faces, men with arms or legs that are too long, ¹⁹men with broken feet or hands, ²⁰men with bent backs, men who are dwarfs,* men who are cross-eyed, men with rashes or a bad skin diseases, men with crushed testicles. ²¹If one of Aaron’s descendants has something wrong with him, then he cannot offer sacrifices by fire to the Lord. And that person cannot carry the special bread to God. ²²{That person is from the family of priests,} so he can eat the holy bread. He can also eat the very holy bread. ²³But he cannot go through the curtain {into the Most Holy Place} and he cannot go near the altar.* Why? Because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my holy places not holy. I, the Lord, make those places holy!” ²⁴So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and all the people of Israel.

unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. unmarried Literally, “virgin,” a girl that was never married and never had sexual relations with anyone. But a priest … slaves Or, “A master must not become unclean for his people.” holy Chosen or set aside for a special purpose. prostitute A woman who sells her body for sex. anointing oil Olive oil that was poured on people or things to show they were chosen for a special work or purpose. virgin A pure woman who has never been married. prostitute A woman who sells her body for sex. people … children Or, “his children will not become unclean from the people.” dwarf(s) A small person whose body stopped growing properly. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices.

22 The Lord God said to Moses, ²“Tell Aaron and his sons: The people of Israel will give things to me. Those things will become holy. They are mine. So you priests must not take those things. If you use those holy things {for yourselves}, then you will show that you don’t respect my holy name. I am the Lord! ³If any person from among all your descendants* touches those things, then that person will become unclean.* That person must be separated from me! The people of Israel gave those things to me. I am the Lord! ⁴“If any of Aaron’s descendants* has one of the bad skin diseases* or a discharge* he can’t eat the holy food until he becomes clean.* That rule is for any priest that becomes unclean.* That priest can become unclean from a dead body or from his own semen.* ⁵He can become unclean if he touches any unclean crawling animals. And he can become unclean if he touches an unclean person. It does not matter what made that person unclean. ⁶If a person touches any of those things, he will become unclean until evening. That person must not eat any of the holy food. Even if he washes with water, he can’t eat the holy food. ⁷He will be clean only after the sun goes down. Then he can eat the holy food. Why? Because {after sunset he is clean and} that food belongs to him. ⁸“If a priest finds an animal that died by itself or that was killed by wild animals, he must not eat that dead animal. If that person eats that animal, he will become unclean.* I am the Lord! ⁹“The priests will have special times to serve me. They must be careful at those times. They must be careful not to make the holy things not holy. If they are careful, then they will not die. I, the Lord, have separated them for this special job. ¹⁰Only people from a priest’s family can eat the holy food. A visitor staying with the priest or a hired worker must not eat any of the holy food. ¹¹But if the priest buys a person as a slave with his own money, then that person may eat some of the holy things. {Slaves} that were born in the priest’s house may also eat some of the priest’s food. ¹²A priest’s daughter might marry a person who is not a priest. If she does that, then she can’t eat any of the holy offerings. ¹³A priest’s daughter might become a widow,* or she might become divorced. If she does not have any children {to support her} and she goes back to her father’s house {where she lived} as a child, then she can eat some of her father’s food. But only people from a priest’s family can eat this food. ¹⁴“A person might eat some of the holy food by mistake. That person must give the same amount to the priest, and he must give another fifth of the price of that food. ¹⁵“The people of Israel will give gifts to the Lord. Those gifts become holy. So the priest must not make those holy things not holy. ¹⁶If the priests treat those things as not holy, then they will add to their sin when they eat the holy food. I, the Lord, make them holy!” ¹⁷The Lord God said to Moses, ¹⁸“Tell Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel: Maybe a citizen of Israel or a foreigner will want to bring an offering. Maybe it is for some special promise that person made. Or maybe it is some special sacrifice that person wanted to bring. ^19–20Those are gifts that the people bring because they really want to give a gift to God. You must not accept any offering that has anything wrong with it. I will not be happy with that gift! If the gift is a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, then that animal must be a male. And it must not have anything wrong with it! ²¹“A person might bring a fellowship offering to the Lord. That fellowship offering might be payment for a special promise that person made. Or maybe it is a special gift that person wanted to give to the Lord. It might be a bull or a sheep. But it must be healthy. There must be nothing wrong with that animal! ²²You must not offer to the Lord any animal that is blind, or has broken bones, or is crippled, or has a discharge,* or a bad skin disease. You must not offer sick animals on the fire of the Lord’s altar.* ²³“Sometimes a bull or lamb will have a leg that is too long, or a foot that did not grow right. If a person wants to give that animal as a special gift to the Lord, then it will be accepted. But it will not be accepted as payment for a special promise that person made. ²⁴“If an animal has bruised, crushed, or torn testicles, then you must not offer that animal to the Lord. ²⁵“You must not take animals from foreigners as sacrifices to the Lord. Why? Because the animals might have been hurt in some way. They might have something wrong with them. They will not be accepted!” ²⁶The Lord said to Moses, ²⁷“When a calf, or a sheep, or a goat is born, it must stay seven days with its mother. Then on the eighth day and after, this animal will be accepted as a sacrifice offered by fire to the Lord. ²⁸But you must not kill the animal and its mother on the same day! This rule is the same for cows and sheep. ²⁹“If you want to offer some special offering of thanks to the Lord, then you are free to offer that gift. {But you must do it in a way that pleases God.} ³⁰You must eat the whole animal that day. You must not leave any of the meat for the next morning. I am the Lord! ³¹“Remember my commands, and obey them. I am the Lord! ³²Show respect for my holy name! I must be very special to the people of Israel. I, the Lord, have made you my special people. ³³I brought you from Egypt. I became your God. I am the Lord!”

descendants A person’s children and their future families. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. bad skin diseases This could be leprosy, or it could be some other serious skin disease. discharge Fluid from a person’s body, including pus from sores, a man’s semen, or a woman’s period flow. clean Pure or acceptable to God for worship. semen The fluid produced by a man’s sexual organs. widow(s) Women whose husbands have died. Often these women had no one to care for them. discharge Fluid from a person’s body, including pus from sores, a man’s semen, or a woman’s period flow. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices.