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Leviticus 20

1Yahweh spoke to Moses: 2“You must tell the sons of Israel: Any person from the sons of Israel or from the resident foreigners living in Israel who gives any of their offspring to Molech must certainly be put to death. The people of the land must stone that person. 3I myself will set my face against that person and cut them off from among their people, because they gave some of their offspring to Molech, making my sanctuary unclean and profaning my holy name. 4If the people of the land close their eyes to that person when they give some of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death, 5I myself will set my face against that person and their family. I will cut that person off from among their people, together with all who prostitute themselves in following that person, prostituting themselves after Molech. 6If a person turns to mediums and spiritists, prostituting themselves after them, I will set my face against that person and cut them off from among their people. 7You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. 8You must keep my statutes and carry them out. I am Yahweh, who makes you holy.

9“Anyone who curses their father or their mother must certainly be put to death. They have cursed their father or mother; their blood is on themselves. 10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must certainly be put to death. 11If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must certainly be put to death; their blood is on themselves. 12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must certainly be put to death. They have committed a perversion; their blood is on themselves. 13If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, both of them have done a detestable thing. They must certainly be put to death; their blood is on themselves. 14If a man takes a woman and her mother, it is depravity. He and they must be burned in the fire, so that there is no depravity among you. 15If a man lies with an animal, he must certainly be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16If a woman approaches any animal for it to mate with her, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must certainly be put to death; their blood is on themselves.

17“If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he must bear his guilt. 18If a man lies with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her source, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people. 19You must not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for he has exposed his own close kin. They must bear their guilt. 20If a man lies with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They must bear their sin; they will die childless. 21If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is uncleanness. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless.

22“You must keep all my statutes and all my judgments and carry them out, so that the land where I am bringing you to live does not vomit you out. 23You must not walk in the statutes of the nation I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I came to loathe them. 24I told you: You will possess their land, and I myself will give it to you to possess—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am Yahweh your God, who set you apart from the peoples. 25You must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean. You must not make yourselves detestable by any animal, bird, or thing that crawls on the ground that I have set apart for you as unclean. 26You must be holy to me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I set you apart from the peoples to be mine. 27A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist must certainly be put to death. They must be stoned; their blood is on themselves.”

Translation notes 7

20:2–6 — Molech; closing the eyes. The chapter names both the people’s duty to punish and Yahweh’s action against the offender and those following them. Closing the eyes depicts deliberately overlooking the act. The prostitution image describes disloyal pursuit of Molech or spirits. These commands belong to the ancient legal text; the draft does not turn them into instructions addressed to a modern institution.

20:9–16, 27 — Death; blood. The emphatic formula is translated “must certainly be put to death.” “Their blood is on themselves” attributes responsibility for their death to the offenders in this legal setting. The stoning and burning clauses remain explicit. The text does not supply every detail of judicial procedure or settle whether burning follows another means of execution.

20:10 — Repeated adultery clause. The Hebrew repeats the adultery description, first referring to another man’s wife and then to the neighbor’s wife. The draft preserves it. Treating the first expression as an accidental repetition is a textual proposal, not a necessary correction to intelligible Hebrew.

20:13 — Male intercourse. The wording corresponds to 18:22 and adds the penalty for both participants. “Male” translates the age-unspecified Hebrew term, and the sexual act is described by comparison with intercourse with a woman. The draft does not replace the act with a modern identity category or supply a restriction to coercion, prostitution, or boys that is not expressed here.

20:14, 17, 21 — Takes. The verb can concern taking as wife or sexual partner. The surrounding clauses establish prohibited sexual relationships; “takes” retains the wording without settling the precise marital status in every case. Verse 17 explicitly mentions seeing each other’s nakedness, within that sexual setting.

20:18–21 — Source; childlessness. The source of blood is a bodily image for menstruation. “Uncleanness” in verse 21 uses a word associated with menstrual impurity elsewhere but applies here to the prohibited relationship. “They will die childless” in verse 20 and “they will be childless” in verse 21 are distinct statements; the draft does not insert a method of enforcing them.

20:23–26 — Nation; set apart. The Hebrew base says “nation,” singular, in verse 23. The repeated verb links Yahweh’s separating Israel from the peoples with Israel’s distinguishing clean from unclean animals. The restrictions and the land-vomiting image remain in the text without being rewritten as modern ethnic or medical explanations.