Along The Way (April 11 - 17, 2025)
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Leviticus 13:1-28
Skin Disease, Varieties and Symptoms
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
“When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot and it turns into a defiling disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. The priest shall examine the disease on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a defiling disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him unclean. But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall confine the diseased person for seven days. The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him seven days more. The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the disease has abated and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. The priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is defiling.
“When a person contracts a defiling skin disease, he shall be brought to the priest. The priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and there is a patch of raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic defiling disease in the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not confine him, for he is unclean. But if the defiling disease breaks out in the skin so that it covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, then the priest shall make an examination, and if the defiling disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean. But if raw flesh ever appears on him, he shall be unclean; the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean; it is defiling. But if the raw flesh again turns white, he shall come to the priest; the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean. He is clean.
“When there is on the skin of one’s body a boil that has healed, and in the place of the boil there appears a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, it shall be shown to the priest. The priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; this is a defiling disease, broken out in the boil. But if the priest examines it and the hair on it is not white nor is it deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him seven days. If it spreads in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is diseased. But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil; the priest shall pronounce him clean.
“Or when the body has a burn on the skin and the patch of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and appears deeper than the skin, it is defiling; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a defiling disease. But if the priest examines it and the hair in the spot is not white and it is no deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him seven days. The priest shall examine him the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a defiling disease. But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin but has abated, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.
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Leviticus 13:29-59
“When a man or a woman has a disease on the head or in the beard, the priest shall examine the disease. If it appears deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an itch, a defiling disease of the head or the beard. If the priest examines the itching disease, and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall confine the person with the itching disease for seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, he shall shave, but the itch he shall not shave. The priest shall confine the person with the itch for seven days more. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the itch spreads in the skin after he was pronounced clean, the priest shall examine him. If the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. But if in his eyes the itch is checked and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed; he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
“When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, the priest shall make an examination, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.
“If anyone loses the hair from his head, he is bald, but he is clean. If he loses the hair from his forehead and temples, he has baldness of the forehead, but he is clean. But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased spot, it is a defiling disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. The priest shall examine him; if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, which resembles a defiling disease in the skin of the body, he is defiled; he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head.
“The person who has the defiling disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
“Concerning clothing: when a defiling disease appears in it, in woolen or linen cloth, in warp or woof of linen or wool or in a skin or in anything made of skin, if the disease shows greenish or reddish in the garment, whether in warp or woof or in skin or in anything made of skin, it is a defiling disease and shall be shown to the priest. The priest shall examine the disease and put the diseased article aside for seven days. He shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the cloth, in warp or woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, this is a spreading defiling disease; it is unclean. He shall burn the clothing, whether diseased in warp or woof, woolen or linen, or anything of skin, for it is a spreading defiling disease; it shall be burned in fire.
“If the priest makes an examination and the disease has not spread in the clothing, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, the priest shall command that the diseased article be washed, and he shall put it aside seven days more. The priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed. If the diseased spot has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in fire, whether the worn spot is on the inside or on the outside.
“If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has abated after it is washed, he shall tear the spot out of the cloth, in warp or woof, or out of skin. If it appears again in the garment, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn with fire that in which the disease appears. But the cloth, warp or woof, or anything of skin from which the disease disappears when you have washed it shall then be washed a second time, and it shall be clean.
“This is the rule for a defiling disease in a cloth of wool or linen, either in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, to decide whether it is clean or unclean.”
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Leviticus 14
Purification of the Diseased
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the rule for the person with a defiling skin disease at the time of his cleansing:
“He shall be brought to the priest; the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. If the disease is healed in the defiled person, the priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedarwood and crimson yarn and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay vessel. He shall take the living bird with the cedarwood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the defiling disease; then he shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field. The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp but shall live outside his tent seven days. On the seventh day he shall shave all his hair: of head, beard, eyebrows; he shall shave all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
“On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish and one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish and a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil and one log of oil. The priest who cleanses shall set the person to be cleansed, along with these things, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priest shall take one of the lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord. He shall slaughter the lamb in the place where the purification offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered in the holy place, for the guilt offering, like the purification offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot. The priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. Some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord: the priest shall offer the purification offering, to make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall slaughter the burnt offering, and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf, and he shall be clean.
“But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be elevated, to make atonement on his behalf, and one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and a log of oil, also two turtledoves or two pigeons, such as he can afford, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering. On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord, and the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord. The priest shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering and shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot. The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. The priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot, where the blood of the guilt offering was placed. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the Lord. And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, such as he can afford, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering, and the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one being cleansed. This is the rule for the one who has a defiling disease who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a defiling disease in a house in the land of your possession, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of disease in my house.’ The priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, or all that is in the house will become unclean, and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house. He shall examine the disease; if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, the priest shall go outside to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. The priest shall come again on the seventh day and make an inspection; if the disease has spread in the walls of the house, the priest shall command that the stones in which the disease appears be taken out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. He shall have the inside of the house scraped thoroughly, and the plaster that is scraped off shall be dumped in an unclean place outside the city. They shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones and take other plaster and plaster the house.
“If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, the priest shall go and make inspection; if the disease has spread in the house, it is a spreading defiling disease in the house; it is unclean. He shall have the house torn down, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. All who enter the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, and all who sleep in the house shall wash their clothes, and all who eat in the house shall wash their clothes.
“If the priest comes and makes an inspection and the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, the priest shall pronounce the house clean; the disease is healed. For the cleansing of the house he shall take two birds, with cedarwood and crimson yarn and hyssop, and shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay vessel and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the crimson yarn, along with the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the fresh water, and with the living bird, and with the cedarwood and hyssop and crimson yarn, and he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field; so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
“This is the rule for any defiling disease: for an itch, for defiling diseases in clothing and houses, and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, to determine when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the rule for defiling diseases.”
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Leviticus 15
Concerning Bodily Discharges
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
“When any man has a discharge from his member, his discharge makes him unclean. The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member flows with its discharge or is stopped from discharging, he is unclean during the entire period his member flows or is stopped from discharging; this is his uncleanness. Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. If the one with the discharge spits on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water shall wash their clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. Any clay vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
“When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. The priest shall offer them, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord for his discharge.
“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. Everything made of cloth or of leather on which the semen falls shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.
“When a woman has a discharge of blood that is a menstrual discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening; whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. If any man lies with her and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her menstrual impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity. Whoever touches these things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean. On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priest shall offer one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord for her unclean discharge.
“Thus you shall keep the Israelites separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.
“This is the rule for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; for her who is in the infirmity of her menstrual period; for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge; and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.”
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Leviticus 16
The Day of Atonement
The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses:
“Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the cover that is upon the ark, or he will die, for I appear in the cloud upon the cover. Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a purification offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen tunic and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites two male goats for a purification offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
“Aaron shall offer the bull as a purification offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and offer it as a purification offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
“Aaron shall present the bull as a purification offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a purification offering for himself. He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may shroud the cover that is upon the covenant, or he will die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the cover, and before the cover he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.
“He shall slaughter the goat of the purification offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the cover and before the cover. Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the Israelites and because of their transgressions, all their sins, and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness. No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on each of the horns of the altar. He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the Israelites.
“When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region, and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.
“Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people. The fat of the purification offering he shall turn into smoke on the altar. The one who sets the goat free for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward may come into the camp. The bull of the purification offering and the goat of the purification offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire. The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward may come into the camp.
“This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves and shall do no work, neither the native-born nor the alien who resides among you. For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble yourselves; it is a statute forever. The priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen vestments, the holy vestments. He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once in the year for all their sins.” And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.
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Leviticus 17
The Slaughtering of Animals
The Lord spoke to Moses:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: This is what the Lord has commanded. If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp or slaughters it outside the camp and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people. This is in order that the Israelites may bring their sacrifices that they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to the Lord. The priest shall dash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to the Lord, so that they may no longer offer their sacrifices for goat-demons, to whom they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.
“And say to them further: Anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the Lord, shall be cut off from the people.
Eating Blood Prohibited
“If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut that person off from the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar, for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement. Therefore I have said to the Israelites, ‘No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood.’
“And anyone of the Israelites or of the aliens who reside among them who hunts down an animal or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature — its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the Israelites, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ All persons, native-born or alien, who eat what dies of itself or what has been torn by wild animals shall wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening; then they shall be clean. But if they do not wash themselves or bathe their body, they shall bear their guilt.”
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Leviticus 18
Sexual Relations
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. My ordinances you shall observe, and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.
“None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born in your father’s house, since she is your sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your flesh; it is depravity. And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.
“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. You shall not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her. You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.
“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. Thus the land became defiled, and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the native-born or the alien who resides among you (for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”