The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the Lord said to Moses,
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The Lord told Moses
2 Say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord your God.
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to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God.
3 You may not do those things which were done in the land of Egypt where you were living; and you may not do those things which are done in the land of Canaan where I am taking you, or be guided in your behaviour by their rules.
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Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you.
4 But you are to be guided by my decisions and keep my rules, and be guided by them: I am the Lord your God.
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Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God.
5 So keep my rules and my decisions, which, if a man does them, will be life to him: I am the Lord.
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Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord."
6 You may not have sex connection with anyone who is a near relation: I am the Lord.
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The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives.
7 You may not have sex relations with your father or your mother: she is your mother, you may not take her.
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Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother.
8 And you may not have sex relations with your father's wife: she is your father's.
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Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives.
9 You may not take your sister, the daughter of your father or of your mother, wherever her birth took place, among you or in another country.
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Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you.
10 You may not have sex relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, for they are part of yourself;
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Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you.
11 Or your father's wife's daughter, the child of your father, for she is your sister.
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Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister.
12 You may not have sex connection with your father's sister, for she is your father's near relation.
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Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister.
13 You may not have sex connection with your mother's sister, for she is your mother's near relation.
14 You may not have sex relations with the wife of your father's brother, for she is of your family;
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Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt.
15 Or with your daughter-in-law, for she is your son's wife, and you may not take her.
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Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law
16 You may not have sex relations with your brother's wife, for she is your brother's.
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or with your brother's wife.
17 You may not take as wife a woman and her daughter, or her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, for they are of one family: it is an act of shame.
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Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest.
18 And you may not take as wife a woman and at the same time her sister, to be in competition with her in her life-time.
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Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.
19 And you may not go near a woman or have sex relations with her when she is unclean, at her regular time.
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Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean.
20 And you may not have sex relations with your neighbour's wife, making yourself unclean with her.
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Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean.
21 And you may not make any of your children go through the fire as an offering to Molech, and you may not put shame on the name of your God: I am the Lord.
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Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.
22 You may not have sex relations with men, as you do with women: it is a disgusting thing.
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No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that.
23 And you may not have sex relations with a beast, making yourself unclean with it; and a woman may not give herself to a beast: it is an unnatural act.
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No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.
24 Do not make yourself unclean in any of these ways; for so have those nations whom I am driving out from before you made themselves unclean:
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Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in.
25 And the land itself has become unclean; so that I have sent on it the reward of its wrongdoing, and the land itself puts out those who are living in it.
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Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.
26 So then keep my rules and my decisions, and do not do any of these disgusting things, those of you who are Israelites by birth, or any others who are living with you:
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They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands,
27 (For all these disgusting things were done by the men of this country who were there before you, and the land has been made unclean by them;)
28 So that the land may not put you out from it, when you make it unclean, as it put out the nations which were there before you.
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and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.
29 For all those who do any of these disgusting things will be cut off from among their people.
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You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people.
30 So then, keep my orders, so that you may not do any of these disgusting things which were done before you, or make yourselves unclean through them: I am the Lord your God.
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And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.