20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 1 who gives any of his children 2 to Molech 3 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 4 20:3 I myself will set my face 5 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, 6 because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 7 20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes 8 to that man 9 when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, 10 to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. 11
20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits 13 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face 14 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. 15 I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
20:9 “‘If anyone 17 curses his father and mother 18 he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. 19 20:10 If a man 20 commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, 21 both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. 22 Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 23 20:12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; 24 their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, 25 the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, 26 it is lewdness. 27 Both he and they must be burned to death, 28 so there is no lewdness in your midst. 20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse 29 with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, 30 you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with 31 his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. 32 He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 33 20:18 If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them 34 must be cut off from the midst of their people. 20:19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. 35 They must bear their punishment for iniquity. 36 20:20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 20:21 If a man has sexual intercourse with 37 his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; 38 they will be childless.
20:22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, 39 so that 40 the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. 20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation 41 which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. 42 20:25 Therefore you must distinguish 43 between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures 44 I have distinguished for you as unclean. 45 20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.
20:27 “‘A man or woman who 46 has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit 47 must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; 48 their blood guilt is on themselves.’”
21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person 49 no priest 50 is to defile himself among his people, 51 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: 52 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, 53 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 54 21:5 Priests 55 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 56
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane 57 the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, 58 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 59 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, 60 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, 61 for the priest 62 is holy to his God. 63 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, 64 am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 65
21:10 “‘The high 66 priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained 67 to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 68 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; 69 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane 70 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 71 21:14 He must not marry 72 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people 73 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, 74 for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations 75 who has a physical flaw 76 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly 77 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, 78 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 79 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, 80 or one with a spot in his eye, 81 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, 82 or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward 83 to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy 84 or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus 85 he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
21:24 So 86 Moses spoke these things 87 to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings 88 of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name. 89 I am the Lord. 22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, 90 if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate 91 to the Lord while he is impure, 92 that person must be cut off from before me. 93 I am the Lord. 22:4 No man 94 from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge 95 may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one 96 who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person, 97 or a man who has a seminal emission, 98 22:5 or a man who touches a swarming thing by which he becomes unclean, 99 or touches a person 100 by which he becomes unclean, whatever that person’s impurity 101 – 22:6 the person who touches any of these 102 will be unclean until evening and must not eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body in water. 22:7 When the sun goes down he will be clean, and afterward he may eat from the holy offerings, because they are his food. 22:8 He must not eat an animal that has died of natural causes 103 or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the Lord. 22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it 104 and therefore die 105 because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
22:10 “‘No lay person 106 may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger 107 nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, 108 that person 109 may eat the holy offerings, 110 and those born in the priest’s 111 own house may eat his food. 112 22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, 113 she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, 114 22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in 115 her father’s house as in her youth, 116 she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, 117 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. 118 22:15 They 119 must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute 120 to the Lord, 121 22:16 and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt 122 when they eat their holy offerings, 123 for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
22:17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 22:18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man 124 from the house of Israel or from the foreigners in Israel 125 presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering, 22:19 if it is to be acceptable for your benefit 126 it must be a flawless male from the cattle, sheep, or goats. 22:20 You must not present anything that has a flaw, 127 because it will not be acceptable for your benefit. 128 22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering 129 or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; 130 it must have no flaw. 131
22:22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore, 132 or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash. 133 You must not give any of these as a gift 134 on the altar to the Lord. 22:23 As for an ox 135 or a sheep with a limb too long or stunted, 136 you may present it as a freewill offering, but it will not be acceptable for a votive offering. 137 22:24 You must not present to the Lord something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off; 138 you must not do this in your land. 22:25 Even from a foreigner 139 you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed; 140 they will not be acceptable for your benefit.’”
22:26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 22:27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of 141 its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift 142 to the Lord. 22:28 You must not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young 143 on the same day. 144 22:29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is acceptable for your benefit. 145 22:30 On that very day 146 it must be eaten; you must not leave any part of it 147 over until morning. I am the Lord.
22:31 “You must be sure to do my commandments. 148 I am the Lord. 22:32 You must not profane my holy name, and I will be sanctified in the midst of the Israelites. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 22:33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God. 149 I am the Lord.”