Leviticus 20:22-27

Holiness in the Land

22 "You are to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.[a]
23 You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.[b]
24 And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.[c] I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples.
25 Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. You are not to make yourselves detestable by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.[d]
26 You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.[e]
27 A man or a woman who is[f] a medium or a spiritist[g] must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their blood is on their own hands."[h]

Leviticus 20:22-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20

In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Le 20:1-5; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Le 20:6; by shunning which, and other sins, a regard would be shown to holiness, Le 20:7,8; such as cursing parents, Le 20:9; committing adultery, Le 20:10; incestuous copulations, and marriages, and beastly actions, Le 20:11-21; all which it became the Israelites to avoid, lest, when come into the land of Canaan, they should be cast out of it, as the old inhabitants were for the same things, Le 20:22-24; and therefore, that they might appear to be a distinct people from others, they were to put a difference between clean and unclean creatures, Le 20:25,26; and the chapter is closed with a law, making it death for any person to have a familiar spirit, or to be a wizard, Le 19:27.

Footnotes 8

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