📖 Leviticus — Chapter 18 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Leviticus 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Leviticus 18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: Rand after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
Leviticus 18:4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: Rwhich if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is Tnear of kin to him, Rto uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Leviticus 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
Leviticus 18:10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
Leviticus 18:11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Leviticus 18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
Leviticus 18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Leviticus 18:14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
Leviticus 18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Leviticus 18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of Ra woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
Leviticus 18:18 Neither shalt thou take Ta Rwife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Leviticus 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Leviticus 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Leviticus 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed Rpass through the fire to TMolech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:22 RThou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Leviticus 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with Rany beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Leviticus 18:24 RDefile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
Leviticus 18:25 And the land is defiled: Rtherefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Leviticus 18:26 Ye shall therefore Rkeep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
Leviticus 18:27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Leviticus 18:28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 18:29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Leviticus 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these Rabominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Leviticus 18:1–5 — The LORD's Ordinances
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The LORD tells Israel not to follow the practices of Egypt, where they lived, or Canaan, where they are going. They are to walk in his judgments and ordinances. The repeated declaration, I am the LORD your God, identifies the authority behind these commands.
Key Truth: Israel is directed to the LORD's commandments rather than the surrounding nations' customs.
Check What You Remember
1. Name both lands whose practices Israel was told not to follow. (Leviticus 18:3)
Find it in Leviticus 18:3 (KJV).
2. Whose judgments and ordinances were they to keep? (Leviticus 18:4)
Find it in Leviticus 18:4 (KJV).
3. According to verse 5, what would a person do in keeping these statutes? (Leviticus 18:5)
Find it in Leviticus 18:5 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Leviticus 18:6–23 — Forbidden Relations and Acts
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The passage gives boundaries concerning close relatives, marriage relationships, and other sexual acts. It forbids adultery, giving children through the fire to Molech, and the other acts named in these verses. These are the specific prohibitions stated to Israel, which the full Scripture above sets out.
Key Truth: The LORD gives Israel stated boundaries for conduct and worship.
Check What You Remember
1. What relationship is described as near of kin in verse 6? (Leviticus 18:6)
Find it in Leviticus 18:6 (KJV).
2. With whose wife was adultery forbidden in verse 20? (Leviticus 18:20)
Find it in Leviticus 18:20 (KJV).
3. To which deity must children not pass through the fire? (Leviticus 18:21)
Find it in Leviticus 18:21 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Leviticus 18:24–30 — The Warning concerning the Land
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The LORD warns that the practices named in the chapter defile the nations and the land. Israel and the strangers among them are commanded to keep his statutes. The passage warns that Israel too can be expelled from the land if they defile it, and closes by repeating the LORD's ordinance.
Key Truth: Living in the promised land does not exempt Israel from the covenant's commands and consequences.
Check What You Remember
1. Did verse 26 include strangers living among Israel? (Leviticus 18:26)
Find it in Leviticus 18:26 (KJV).
2. What does verse 28 warn could happen to Israel? (Leviticus 18:28)
Find it in Leviticus 18:28 (KJV).
3. What were they told to keep in verse 30? (Leviticus 18:30)
Find it in Leviticus 18:30 (KJV).
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does Israel’s journey between Egypt and Canaan frame the opening instruction?
2. How does the Molech prohibition connect children with God’s name?
3. How does the land’s defilement explain the warning of expulsion?
4. How does the prohibition extend beyond those born in Israel?
5. How does the closing instruction turn the warnings into a continuing obligation?
Notes
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