Leviticus 18 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Forbidden Sexual Practices

Lev 18:1Then the LORD said to Moses,

Lev 18:2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the LORD your God.

Lev 18:3So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.

Lev 18:4

Lev 18:4You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the LORD your God.

Lev 18:5

Lev 18:5If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.

Lev 18:6

Lev 18:6“You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the LORD.

Lev 18:7

Lev 18:7“Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

Lev 18:8

Lev 18:8“Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.

Lev 18:9

Lev 18:9“Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.

Lev 18:10

Lev 18:10“Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself.

Lev 18:11

Lev 18:11“Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister.

Lev 18:12

Lev 18:12“Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative.

Lev 18:13

Lev 18:13“Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.

Lev 18:14

Lev 18:14“Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt.

Lev 18:15

Lev 18:15“Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

Lev 18:16

Lev 18:16“Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.

Lev 18:17

Lev 18:17“Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take[fn] her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.

Lev 18:18

Lev 18:18“While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

Lev 18:19

Lev 18:19“Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.

Lev 18:20

Lev 18:20“Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.

Lev 18:21

Lev 18:21“Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Lev 18:22

Lev 18:22“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

Lev 18:23

Lev 18:23“A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

Lev 18:24

Lev 18:24“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways.

Lev 18:25

Lev 18:25Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out.

Lev 18:26

Lev 18:26You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

Lev 18:27

Lev 18:27“All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled.

Lev 18:28

Lev 18:28So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.

Lev 18:29

Lev 18:29Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel.

Lev 18:30

Lev 18:30So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the LORD your God.”

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NLT Footnotes

(18:17)

Or do not marry.

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