Leviticus 18NKJV
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Leviticus18

New King James Version

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.

3According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.

4You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.

5You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

6‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord.

7The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

8The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.

9The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

10The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.

11The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness.

12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father.

13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother.

14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness.

16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness.

18Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity.

20Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her.

21And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

23Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

24‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.

25For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

26You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you

27(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled),

28lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30‘Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 18.

Full AI study →

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Unlawful marriages and fleshly lusts. (1-30).

vv1-30

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.

Cross References

Leviticus 18
v5Romans 10:5quotation

Paul explicitly quotes Leviticus 18:5 ('the man which doeth those things shall live in them') regarding legal righteousness.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v5Galatians 3:12quotation

Paul quotes the phrase 'the man that doeth them shall live in them' to contrast law and faith.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v26Leviticus 18:5thematic

Provides the foundational promise of life for keeping the statutes and judgments.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v5Luke 10:28allusion

Jesus echoes the life promise of Leviticus 18:5 to the lawyer: 'this do, and thou shalt live.'

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

Paul condemns a man having 'his father's wife' as incest not even named among the Gentiles.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v21Leviticus 20:2thematic

Specifies the capital penalty for giving seed to Molech, expanding on verse 21.

Supported by John Calvin

v22Leviticus 20:13thematic

Prescribes the capital punishment for the homosexual act forbidden as an abomination in verse 22.

Supported by John Calvin

v23Leviticus 20:15thematic

Establishes the penalty for bestiality, which is prohibited in verse 23.

Supported by John Calvin

v24Leviticus 20:23thematic

Repeats warning against walking in the manners of the nations cast out before them.

Supported by John Calvin, JFB

v5Matthew 19:17allusion

Jesus' statement 'if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments' echoes the promise of verse 5.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v8Genesis 35:22thematic

Reuben's sin with Bilhah, his father's concubine, violates the prohibition against uncovering a father's wife's nakedness.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v8Genesis 49:4thematic

Jacob's dying words denounce Reuben for defiling his couch, referring back to the incest forbidden here.

Supported by Matthew Poole

Prohibits making sons or daughters pass through the fire, parallel to Molech worship.

Supported by John Calvin

Condemns the pagan practice of burning children in the fire to their gods.

Supported by John Calvin

v26Romans 10:5allusion

Apostolic theological application of the 'do and live' principle of Leviticus 18.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v28Leviticus 20:22thematic

Warning that the land will vomit Israel out if they commit these abominations.

Supported by John Calvin

v5Ezekiel 20:11allusion

Ezekiel explicitly cites God's giving of statutes which 'if a man do, he shall even live in them.'

Supported by Matthew Poole

The formal covenant curse pronounced upon anyone who lies with his father's wife, echoing verse 8.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v16Deuteronomy 25:5contrast

The levirate marriage law provides a specific, divinely mandated exception to the general prohibition in verse 16.

v16Matthew 14:4thematic

John the Baptist's rebuke to Herod: 'It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.'

v212 Kings 23:10thematic

Historical fulfillment where Josiah defiled Topheth to stop child sacrifices to Molech.

Supported by JFB

v21Jeremiah 32:35thematic

Prophetic condemnation of Israel building high places to cause children to pass through fire to Molech.

Supported by John Calvin

v22Romans 1:27thematic

New Testament parallel exposing the same unnatural practices as errors worthy of judgment.

Supported by JFB

Pronounces a formal curse upon anyone who lies with any manner of beast.

Supported by John Calvin

v7Ezekiel 22:10thematic

Ezekiel denounces Jerusalem for uncovering their fathers' nakedness and humbling women set apart for pollution.

v8Leviticus 20:11thematic

The penal counterpart to verse 8, prescribing the death penalty for lying with a father's wife.

v92 Samuel 13:12thematic

Tamar appeals to the prohibition of sibling incest, pleading with Amnon not to do such folly.

v16Leviticus 20:21thematic

Prescribes the specific penalty (childlessness) for taking a brother's wife, reinforcing the prohibition of verse 16.

v20Leviticus 20:10thematic

Declares the death penalty for both the adulterer and adulteress, backing the prohibition in verse 20.

v21Leviticus 19:12thematic

Parallels the prohibition against profaning the name of your God.

Supported by John Calvin

v30Leviticus 18:3thematic

Reinforces the command not to do after the customs of Egypt or Canaan.

Supported by Matthew Poole