Leviticus 20:15-25

15 And if a man copulates with a beast, he shall surely be put to death, and ye shall slay the beast.

16 And if a woman approaches any animal, to join herself with it, thou shalt kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon themselves.

17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be killed in the sight of the sons of their people; he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her menstruation and shall uncover her nakedness, he has discovered her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister; for he uncovers his near kin; they shall bear their iniquity.

20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

22 Keep, therefore, all my statutes and all my rights and do them, and the land where I bring you to dwell therein will not vomit you out.

23 And ye shall not walk in the practices of the Gentiles which I shall cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you in possession of inheritance, a land that flows with milk and honey. I AM your God, who have separated you from the other peoples.

25 Therefore, ye shall differentiate between clean animals and unclean and between unclean fowls and clean; and ye shall not defile your persons by animals or by fowl or by any manner of living thing that moves on the ground which I have separated from you as unclean.

Leviticus 20:15-25 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.