Leviticus 18 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Laws on Immoral Relations

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 18:2“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.

Lev 18:3‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes (practices, customs).

Lev 18:4

Lev 18:4‘You are to follow My judgments (precepts, ordinances) and keep My statutes and live by them. I am the LORD your God.

Lev 18:5

Lev 18:5‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which, if a person keeps them, he shall live; I am the LORD.

Lev 18:6

‘[fn]No one shall approach any blood relative of his [fn]to uncover nakedness (have intimate relations). I am the LORD.

Lev 18:7

Lev 18:7‘You shall not uncover the [fn]nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

Lev 18:8

Lev 18:8‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.

Lev 18:9

Lev 18:9‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, either the daughter of your father or of your mother, whether born at home or born elsewhere.

Lev 18:10

Lev 18:10‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; their nakedness you shall not uncover, for they are your own nakedness [that is, your own descendants].

Lev 18:11

Lev 18:11‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter; born to your father, she is your sister.

Lev 18:12

Lev 18:12‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

Lev 18:13

Lev 18:13‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

Lev 18:14

Lev 18:14‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother’s wife; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

Lev 18:15

Lev 18:15‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

Lev 18:16

Lev 18:16‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

Lev 18:17

Lev 18:17‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover their nakedness (have intimate relations with them); they are [her] blood relatives; it is an outrageous offense.

Lev 18:18

Lev 18:18‘You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

Lev 18:19

‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity and ceremonial uncleanness.

Lev 18:20

Lev 18:20‘You shall not have intimate relations with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

Lev 18:21

Lev 18:21‘You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the LORD.

Lev 18:22

Lev 18:22‘You shall not lie [intimately] with a male as one lies with a female; it is repulsive.

Lev 18:23

Lev 18:23‘You shall not have intimate relations with any animal to be defiled with it; nor shall a woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

Lev 18:24

‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.

Lev 18:25

Lev 18:25‘For the land has become defiled; therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

Lev 18:26

Lev 18:26‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments (precepts) and shall not commit any of these repulsive acts, neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives temporarily among you

Lev 18:27

Lev 18:27(for all these repulsive acts have been done by the men who lived in the land before you, and the land has become defiled);

Lev 18:28

Lev 18:28[do none of these things] so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you.

Lev 18:29

Lev 18:29‘For whoever commits any of these repulsive acts, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them].

Lev 18:30

Lev 18:30‘So keep My command: do not practice any of the repulsive customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them; I am the LORD your God.’”

See the AMP Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

AMP Footnotes

(18:6)

This passage (vv 6-18) states incestuous prohibitions.

(18:6)

This Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations occurs in each verse in the passage.

(18:7)

The father’s nakedness is a reference to his wife in her role as his sexual partner, i.e. the nakedness that belongs to him alone by virtue of their marriage (cf 1 Cor 7:4). Otherwise, the literal meaning would refer to intimate relations with the father himself, including homosexuality. The text itself states that this is not the meaning, especially in 20:11a (The man who lies…has uncovered his father’s nakedness).

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