Leviticus 20

20 ¹ Our Father spoke to Moses:

² "Say to the children of Israel: Any man among the children of Israel, or among the foreigners who live in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech must surely be put to death; the people of the land are to stone him with stones. ¹ 1 v2 Molech was a Canaanite god whose worship involved sacrificing children in fire. ³ I myself will set my face against that man and cut him off from among his people, because he has given any of his children to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. ⁴ And if the people of the land ever look the other way when that man gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, ⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and I will cut him off, together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech, from among their people.

⁶ The person who turns to mediums and spiritists, prostituting himself by following them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people.

⁷ Set yourselves apart, therefore, and be holy, for I am your Father. ⁸ Keep my statutes and do them. I am your Father who makes you holy.

⁹ Anyone who curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood is on his own head. ² 2 v9 'Blood is on his own head' means he is fully responsible for his own death; no guilt falls on those who carry out the sentence. This phrase recurs throughout the chapter.

The Father Guards the Marriage Covenant

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with another man's wife — with the wife of his neighbor — both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

¹¹ If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them must surely be put to death; their blood is on their own heads.

¹² If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must surely be put to death; they have committed a perversion; their blood is on their own heads.

¹³ If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must surely be put to death; their blood is on their own heads.

¹⁴ If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wickedness; they are to be burned to death — all three of them — so that there will be no wickedness among you.

¹⁵ If a man lies with an animal, he must surely be put to death, and you are to kill the animal.

¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal; they must surely be put to death; their blood is on their own heads.

¹⁷ If a man marries his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his, it is a disgrace; they are to be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness; he will bear his guilt.

¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered its source; both of them are to be cut off from among their people.

¹⁹ You must not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or your father's sister, for that dishonors a close relative; they will bear their guilt. ²⁰ If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they will bear their sin; they will die childless.

²¹ If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an impurity; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they will be childless.

Set Apart as the Father's Own

²² Keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. ²³ You must not live by the customs of the nation I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and so I detested them. ²⁴ But I have said to you: You will inherit their land, and I myself will give it to you to possess — a land flowing with milk and honey. I am your Father, who has set you apart from the peoples.

²⁵ So you are to distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean. Do not make yourselves detestable by any animal or bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart for you as unclean. ²⁶ You are to be holy to me, for I, your Father, am holy, and I have set you apart from the peoples to be my own.

²⁷ A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist must surely be put to death; they are to stone them to death; their blood is on their own heads.