Leviticus 18:21-30

21 And thou shalt not give of thy seed to serve a ruler; and thou shalt not profane my holy name; I the Lord.

22 And thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination.

23 Neither shalt thou lie with any quadruped for copulation, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connexion with it; for it is an abomination.

24 Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for in all these things the nations are defiled, which I drive out before you,

25 and the land is polluted; and I have recompensed their iniquity to them because of it, and the land is aggrieved with them that dwell upon it.

26 And ye shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and ye shall do none of these abominations; neither the native, nor the stranger that joins himself with you:

27 (for all these abominations the men of the land did who were before you, and the land was defiled,)

28 and lest the land be aggrieved with you in your polluting it, as it was aggrieved with the nations before you.

29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people.

30 And ye shall keep mine ordinances, that ye may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and ye shall not be polluted in them; for I the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18:21-30 Meaning and Commentary

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.