Unlawful Sexual Relations

¹The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. ³You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. ⁴You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. ⁵Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.
⁶“ ‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.
⁷“ ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
⁸“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.
⁹“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
¹⁰“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.
¹¹“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
¹²“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
¹³“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.
¹⁴“ ‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
¹⁵“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.
¹⁶“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.
¹⁷“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
¹⁸“ ‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
¹⁹“ ‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
²⁰“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
²¹“ ‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
²²“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
²³“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
²⁴“ ‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. ²⁵Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, ²⁷for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. ²⁸And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
²⁹“ ‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things-such persons must be cut off from their people. ³⁰Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.’ ”