Leviticus 18
Sex that makes people impure
1The Lord said to Moses: 2‘You must tell the Israelites: “I am the Lord your God. 3You may not do the same things which the people do in the land of Egypt, where you lived before. I will take you into the land of Canaan, but you may not do the things which the people of that land do. You may not live as they live. 4You must do what I say, and you must live as my laws say. I am the Lord your God. 5You must always do what I say and what I decide. Each person who does this will live for many years. I am the Lord.
6None of you may have sex with someone in your family or a close relative. I am the Lord. 7You may not have sex with your mother because you will bring shame to your father's name. She is your mother, and you may not have sex with her. 8You may not have sex with any wife of your father. You will bring shame to your father's name. 9You may not have sex with your sister, or with your mother's daughter, who was born in the same home or in another home. 10You may not have sex with your granddaughter because that will bring shame to your name. 11You may not have sex with your half-sister, because she is your sister. 12-13You may not have sex with your aunt, because she is the sister of your father or mother. 14You may not have sex with your uncle's wife, because she is your aunt. You will bring shame to your uncle's name. 15You may not have sex with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife, and you may not have sex with her. 16You may not have sex with your brother's wife. You will bring shame to your brother's name. 17You may not have sex with a woman and her daughter. You may not marry a granddaughter of that woman. You will bring shame to that woman's name, because it is her granddaughter, and it will be very bad if you have sex with her granddaughter. 18You may not marry your wife's sister if your wife is still_alive. They will become enemies if you have sex with her sister.
19You may not have sex with a woman who is menstruating because she is impure. 20You may not have sex with the wife of another man because you will become impure.
21You may not sacrifice a child or a grandchild of yours to the idol Molek, because then you will bring shame to the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22A man may not have sex with another man. God hates that. 23A man may not have sex with an animal. A woman may also not have sex with an animal. God hates that. 24Don't do any of these things because then you will become impure. The other nations have done that and that is how they became impure. These are the nations that I will chase away so that you can go and live in their land. 25The land has also become impure. That is why I will punish the land and the land will chase away the people so that they can not live there anymore. 26You must always do what I say and what I decide. Don't do any of these things which I hate. You, the Israelites and the strangers who live among you, may not do this. 27Because the people who have lived in this land before you came here did all these bad things which I hate and the land has become impure. 28The land will also chase you away if you make it impure, just as the land has chased away the people who lived here before you. 29If anyone does any of these bad things, you must cut him off from his people. 30You must always do what I say. You must not do any of the things that the people did who lived here before. Do not let yourselves become impure. I am the Lord your God.” ’
English Bible for the Deaf © Bible Society of South Africa 2019. Used with permission. All rights reserved.