Leviticus, 18

1. The LORD said to Moses,

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

2. "Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.

2. 'Speak to the Israelites and say: "I am Yahweh your God:

3. Revere your mother and father, and keep my sabbaths. I, the LORD, am your God.

3. You must not behave as they do in Egypt where you used to live; you must not behave as they do in Canaan where I am taking you, nor must you follow their laws.

4. "Do not turn aside to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I, the LORD, am your God.

4. You must observe my customs and keep my laws, following them. "I, Yahweh, am your God:

5. "When you sacrifice your peace offering to the LORD, if you wish it to be acceptable,

5. hence you will keep my laws and my customs. Whoever complies with them will find life in them. "I am Yahweh.

6. it must be eaten on the very day of your sacrifice or on the following day. Whatever is left over until the third day shall be burned up in the fire.

6. "None of you will approach a woman who is closely related to him, to have intercourse with her. I am Yahweh.

7. If any of it is eaten on the third day, the sacrifice will be unacceptable as refuse;

7. "You will not have intercourse with your father or your mother. She is your mother -- you will not have intercourse with her.

8. whoever eats of it then shall pay the penalty for having profaned what is sacred to the LORD. Such a one shall be cut off from his people.

8. "You will not have intercourse with your father's wife; it is your father's sexual prerogative.

9. "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you glean the stray ears of grain.

9. "You will not have intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father's or your mother's daughter. Whether she was born in the same house or elsewhere, you will not have intercourse with her.

10. Likewise, you shall not pick your vineyard bare, nor gather up the grapes that have fallen. These things you shall leave for the poor and the alien. I, the LORD, am your God.

10. "You will not have intercourse with your son's or your daughter's daughter; for their sexual privacy is your own.

11. "You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another.

11. "You will not have intercourse with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father. She is your sister; you will not have intercourse with her.

12. You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the LORD.

12. "You will not have intercourse with your father's sister; for she is your father's own flesh and blood.

13. "You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer.

13. "You will not have intercourse with your mother's sister; for she is your mother's own flesh and blood.

14. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

14. "You will not have intercourse with your father's brother; you will not approach his wife. She is your aunt.

15. "You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly.

15. "You will not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; you will not have intercourse with her.

16. You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake. I am the LORD.

16. "You will not have intercourse with your brother's wife; it is your brother's sexual prerogative.

17. "You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him.

17. "You will not have intercourse with a woman and her daughter; nor will you take her son's or her daughter's daughter, to have intercourse with them. They are your own flesh and blood; it would be incest.

18. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

18. "You will not take a woman and her sister into your harem at the same time, to have intercourse with the latter while the former is still alive.

19. "Keep my statutes: do not breed any of your domestic animals with others of a different species; do not sow a field of yours with two different kinds of seed; and do not put on a garment woven with two different kinds of thread.

19. "You will not approach and have intercourse with a woman who is in a state of menstrual pollution.

20. "If a man has carnal relations with a female slave who has already been living with another man but has not yet been redeemed or given her freedom, they shall be punished but not put to death, because she is not free.

20. "Furthermore, you will not have intercourse with your fellow-citizen's wife; you would become unclean by doing so.

21. The man, moreover, shall bring to the entrance of the meeting tent a ram as his guilt offering to the LORD.

21. "You will not allow any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, thus profaning the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

22. With this ram the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the sin he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.

22. "You will not have intercourse with a man as you would with a woman. This is a hateful thing.

23. "When you come into the land and plant any fruit tree there, first look upon its fruit as if it were uncircumcised. For three years, while its fruit remains uncircumcised, it may not be eaten.

23. "You will not have intercourse with any kind of animal; you would become unclean by doing so. Nor will a woman offer herself to an animal, to have intercourse with it. This would be a violation of nature.

24. In the fourth year, however, all of its fruit shall be sacred to the LORD as a thanksgiving feast to him.

24. "Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these practices, for it was by such things that the nations that I am driving out before you made themselves unclean.

25. Not until the fifth year may you eat its fruit. Thus it will continue its yield for you. I, the LORD, am your God.

25. The country has become unclean; hence I am about to punish it for its guilt, and the country itself will vomit out its inhabitants.

26. "Do not eat meat with the blood still in it. Do not practice divination or soothsaying.

26. "You, however, must keep my laws and customs and not do any of these hateful things: none of your citizens, none of your resident aliens.

27. Do not clip your hair at the temples, nor trim the edges of your beard.

27. For all these hateful things were done by the people who lived in the country before you, and the country became unclean.

28. Do not lacerate your bodies for the dead, and do not tattoo yourselves. I am the LORD.

28. If you make it unclean, will it not vomit you out as it vomited out the nations there before you?

29. "You shall not degrade your daughter by making a prostitute of her; else the land will become corrupt and full of lewdness.

29. Yes, anyone who does any of these hateful things, whatever it may be, any person doing so, will be outlawed from his people;

30. Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD.

30. so keep my rules and do not observe any of the hateful laws which were in force before you came; then you will not be made unclean by them. I am Yahweh your God." '

31. "Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them. I, the LORD, am your God.

31.

32. "Stand up in the presence of the aged, and show respect for the old; thus shall you fear your God. I am the LORD.

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33. "When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him.

33.

34. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the LORD, am your God.

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35. "Do not act dishonestly in using measures of length or weight or capacity.

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36. You shall have a true scale and true weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

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37. Be careful, then, to observe all my statutes and decrees. I am the LORD."

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