Leviticus 18

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, I [am] Jehovah your God;
3 according to the work of the land of Egypt in which ye have dwelt ye do not, and according to the work of the land of Canaan whither I am bringing you in, ye do not, and in their statutes ye walk not.
4 `My judgments ye do, and My statutes ye keep, to walk in them; I [am] Jehovah your God;
5 and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments which man doth and liveth in them; I [am] Jehovah.
6 `None of you unto any relation of his flesh doth draw near to uncover nakedness; I [am] Jehovah.
7 `The nakedness of thy father and the nakedness of thy mother thou dost not uncover, she [is] thy mother; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.
8 `The nakedness of the wife of thy father thou dost not uncover; it [is] the nakedness of thy father.
9 `The nakedness of thy sister, daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home or born without; thou dost not uncover their nakedness.
10 `The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter: thou dost not uncover their nakedness; for theirs [is] thy nakedness.
11 `The nakedness of a daughter of thy father's wife, begotten of thy father, she [is] thy sister; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.
12 `The nakedness of a sister of thy father thou dost not uncover; she [is] a relation of thy father.
13 `The nakedness of thy mother's sister thou dost not uncover; for she [is] thy mother's relation.
14 `The nakedness of thy father's brother thou dost not uncover; unto his wife thou dost not draw near; she [is] thine aunt.
15 `The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law thou dost not uncover; she [is] thy son's wife; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.
16 `The nakedness of thy brother's wife thou dost not uncover; it [is] thy brother's nakedness.
17 `The nakedness of a woman and her daughter thou dost not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter thou dost not take to uncover her nakedness; they [are] her relations; it [is] wickedness.
18 `And a woman unto another thou dost not take, to be an adversary, to uncover her nakedness beside her, in her life.
19 `And unto a woman in the separation of her uncleanness thou dost not draw near to uncover her nakedness.
20 `And unto the wife of thy fellow thou dost not give thy seed of copulation, for uncleanness with her.
21 `And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.
22 `And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman; abomination it [is].
23 `And with any beast thou dost not give thy copulation, for uncleanness with it; and a woman doth not stand before a beast to lie down with it; confusion it [is].
24 `Ye are not defiled with all these, for with all these have the nations been defiled which I am sending away from before you;
25 and the land is defiled, and I charge its iniquity upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants:
26 and ye -- ye have kept My statutes and My judgments, and do not [any] of all these abominations, the native and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst,
27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done who [are] before you, and the land is defiled),
28 and the land doth not vomit you out in your defiling it, as it hath vomited out the nation which [is] before you;
29 for any one who doth [any] of all these abominations -- even the persons who are doing [so], have been cut off from the midst of their people;
30 and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do [any] of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I [am] Jehovah your God.'

Leviticus 18 Commentary

Chapter 18

Unlawful marriages and fleshly lusts.

- Here is a law against all conformity to the corrupt usages of the heathen. Also laws against incest, against brutal lusts, and barbarous idolatries; and the enforcement of these laws from the ruin of the Canaanites. God here gives moral precepts. Close and constant adherence to God's ordinances is the most effectual preservative from gross sin. The grace of God only will secure us; that grace is to be expected only in the use of the means of grace. Nor does He ever leave any to their hearts' lusts, till they have left him and his services.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 18

In this chapter the Israelites are directed in general not to imitate the customs and practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites, but to keep the ordinances, statutes, and judgments of the Lord, Le 18:1-5; and they are instructed particularly to avoid incestuous marriages, Le 18:6-18; carnal copulation with a menstruous woman, Le 18:19; adultery, Le 18:20; letting any of their seed pass through the fire to Molech, Le 18:21; sodomy, Le 18:22; and bestiality, Le 18:23; and they are deterred from these things by observing to them the pollution and destruction which they brought on the inhabitants of Canaan, and would bring the same on them should they commit them, Le 18:24-30.

Leviticus 18 Commentaries

Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.