Leviticus 18

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am Jehovah your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their customs.
4 Mine ordinances shall ye do and my statutes shall ye observe to walk therein: I am Jehovah your God.
5 And ye shall observe my statutes and my judgments, by which the man that doeth them shall live: I am Jehovah.
6 No one shall approach to any that is his near relation, to uncover his nakedness: I am Jehovah.
7 The nakedness of thy father, and the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home, or born abroad -- their nakedness shalt thou not uncover.
10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter -- their nakedness shalt thou not uncover; for theirs is thy nakedness.
11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father: she is thy sister: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12 The nakedness of thy father's sister shalt thou not uncover: she is thy father's near relation.
13 The nakedness of thy mother's sister shalt thou not uncover; for she is thy mother's near relation.
14 The nakedness of thy father's brother shalt thou not uncover; thou shalt not approach his wife: she is thine aunt.
15 The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law shalt thou not uncover: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16 The nakedness of thy brother's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy brother's nakedness.
17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter shalt thou not uncover; thou shalt not take her son's daughter, nor her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness: they are her near relations: it is wickedness.
18 And thou shalt not take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness beside her, during her life.
19 And thou shalt not approach a woman in the separation of her uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.
20 And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to become unclean with her.
21 And thou shalt not give of thy seed to let them pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
22 And thou shalt not lie with mankind as one lieth with a woman: it is an abomination.
23 And thou shalt lie with no beast to become unclean therewith; and a woman shall not stand before a beast to lie down with it: it is confusion.
24 Make not yourselves unclean in any of these things; for in all these have the nations which I am casting out before you made themselves unclean.
25 And the land hath become unclean; and I visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants.
26 But *ye* shall observe my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of all these abominations: the home-born, and the stranger that sojourneth among you;
27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, who were before you, and the land hath been made unclean);
28 that the land vomit you not out, when ye make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
29 For whoever committeth any of these abominations, ... the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 And ye shall observe my charge, that ye commit not [any] of the abominable customs which were committed before you; and ye shall not make yourselves unclean therein: I am Jehovah your God.

Leviticus 18 Commentary

Chapter 18

Unlawful marriages and fleshly lusts.

- Here is a law against all conformity to the corrupt usages of the heathen. Also laws against incest, against brutal lusts, and barbarous idolatries; and the enforcement of these laws from the ruin of the Canaanites. God here gives moral precepts. Close and constant adherence to God's ordinances is the most effectual preservative from gross sin. The grace of God only will secure us; that grace is to be expected only in the use of the means of grace. Nor does He ever leave any to their hearts' lusts, till they have left him and his services.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Or 'judgments,' as ver. 5 and elsewhere.
  • [b]. Lit. 'own flesh of his flesh.'
  • [c]. Lit. 'own flesh.'
  • [d]. A divinity of the Ammonites to which little children were sacrificed.

Chapter Summary

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.

Leviticus 18 Commentaries

The Darby Translation is in the public domain.