Leviticus 20:1-9

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Say to the people of Israel, ¹Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3 ²I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary ³unclean and ⁴to profane my holy name.

4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not ⁵put him to death,

5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ⁶whoring after Molech.

6 "If ⁷a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, ⁸I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

7 ⁹Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

8 ¹⁰Keep my statutes and do them; ¹¹I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

9 For ¹²anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; ¹³his blood is upon him.

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Leviticus 20:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20

In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Le 20:1-5; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Le 20:6; by shunning which, and other sins, a regard would be shown to holiness, Le 20:7,8; such as cursing parents, Le 20:9; committing adultery, Le 20:10; incestuous copulations, and marriages, and beastly actions, Le 20:11-21; all which it became the Israelites to avoid, lest, when come into the land of Canaan, they should be cast out of it, as the old inhabitants were for the same things, Le 20:22-24; and therefore, that they might appear to be a distinct people from others, they were to put a difference between clean and unclean creatures, Le 20:25,26; and the chapter is closed with a law, making it death for any person to have a familiar spirit, or to be a wizard, Le 19:27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 13

1. See Leviticus 18:21
2. See Leviticus 17:10
3. Leviticus 19:30; Ezekiel 5:11; Ezekiel 23:38, 39
4. See Leviticus 18:21
5. Deut. 17:2, 3, 5
6. See Exodus 34:15
7. See Leviticus 19:31
8. See Leviticus 17:10
9. See Leviticus 11:44
10. See Leviticus 18:4
11. Leviticus 21:8, 15, 23; Leviticus 22:32; Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 37:28
12. See Exodus 21:17
13. ver. 11, 12, 13, 16, 27; [2 Samuel 1:16; 1 Kgs. 2:32, 33, 37]

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.