# Leviticus 20 📖: Penalties for Sin [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Leviticus Overview]] | [[Leviticus 19]] | [[Leviticus 21]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship [[#Verse 01.]] The Lord spoke to Moses:  [[#Verse 02.]] “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites (or any of the resident foreigners who live in Israel) who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones.  [[#Verse 03.]] I myself will set my face against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.  [[#Verse 04.]] If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes to that man when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death,  [[#Verse 05.]] I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of the people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, committing prostitution by worshiping Molech. ### Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums [[#Verse 06.]] “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people. ### Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience [[#Verse 07.]] “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. [[#Verse 08.]] You must be sure to obey my statutes. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ### Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions [[#Verse 09.]] “‘If anyone curses his father or mother he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood guilt is on himself. [[#Verse 10.]] If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.  [[#Verse 11.]] If a man goes to bed with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.  [[#Verse 12.]] If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves.  [[#Verse 13.]] If a man goes to bed with a male as one goes to bed with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.  [[#Verse 14.]] If a man has marital relations with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst.  [[#Verse 15.]] If a man has sexual relations with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.  [[#Verse 16.]] If a woman approaches any animal to copulate with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. [[#Verse 17.]] “‘If a man has marital relations with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.  [[#Verse 18.]] If a man goes to bed with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them must be cut off from the midst of their people. [[#Verse 19.]] You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a person has exposed his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity.  [[#Verse 20.]] If a man goes to bed with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless.  [[#Verse 21.]] If a man has marital relations with his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless. ### Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience [[#Verse 22.]] “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, so that the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence does not vomit you out.  [[#Verse 23.]] You must not walk in the statutes of the nations which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. [[#Verse 24.]] So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.  [[#Verse 25.]] Therefore you must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground—creatures I have distinguished for you as unclean.  [[#Verse 26.]] You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine. ### Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums [[#Verse 27.]] “‘A man or woman who has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; their blood guilt is on themselves.’” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Leviticus 18 lists forbidden practices, and chapter 20 assigns penalties to many of them. 2. Giving children to Molech was punished by stoning (20:2). 3. If the community ignored this sin, God Himself would set His face against that man and his clan (20:4-5). 4. King Saul banished mediums but later consulted one at Endor (1 Samuel 28:3, 7). 5. The death penalty for cursing father or mother (20:9) is echoed by Jesus in Mark 7:10. 6. The repeated phrase "his blood guilt is on himself" means the guilty person is responsible for his own death. 7. Canaan is described as a land flowing with milk and honey (20:24). 8. The distinction between clean and unclean animals is tied to Israel's distinction from the nations (20:25-26). 9. Scholars debate whether "cut off" means execution by the community, early death by God's hand, or both. 10. The phrase "I am the Lord who sanctifies you" appears several times in this section of Leviticus (20:8; 21:8; 22:32). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who bore the penalty of the law for us. Leviticus 20 shows how seriously God punishes sin, and Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God says He set Israel apart from the nations to be His own (20:24, 26). How does knowing you belong to God motivate holiness? 2. God tells Israel to consecrate themselves, and He also says He is the Lord who sanctifies them (20:7-8). How do our effort and God's work fit together (Philippians 2:12-13)? 3. Turning to mediums and spiritists is treated as spiritual unfaithfulness (20:6). Where might people today look for guidance apart from God? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 6: God sets His face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists. - 📖 verses 7-8: Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for the Lord is the One who sanctifies you. - 📖 verse 26: Be holy to the Lord, who has set you apart from the nations to be His. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Galatians 03#Verse 13.|Galatians 3:13]] - Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. - 🔗 [[1 Peter 02#Verse 09.|1 Peter 2:9]] - A people belonging to God. - 🔗 [[Philippians 02#Verse 12.|Philippians 2:12-13]] - God works in you to will and to act. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 08#Verse 19.|Isaiah 8:19-20]] - Should not a people consult their God? - 🔗 [[1 Thessalonians 05#Verse 23.|1 Thessalonians 5:23-24]] - The God of peace will sanctify you completely. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 📂 Internal Notes