Leviticus 18:30
New International Version
Keep 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.’”

New Living Translation
So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the LORD your God.”

English Standard Version
So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

Berean Standard Bible
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

King James Bible
Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

New King James Version
‘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.’ ”

New American Standard Bible
So you are to keep your commitment to Me not to practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”

NASB 1995
‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”

NASB 1977
‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am Yahweh your God.’”

Amplified Bible
So keep My command: do not practice any of the repulsive customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them; I am the LORD your God.’”

Christian Standard Bible
You must keep my instruction to not do any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am the LORD your God.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You must keep My instruction to not do any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am Yahweh your God.”

American Standard Version
Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye practise not any of these abominable customs, which were practised before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am Jehovah your God.

English Revised Version
Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So you must follow my instructions. Don't live by the standards of the people who lived there before you. What they do is disgusting. Never become unclean that way. I am the LORD your God."

Good News Translation
And the LORD said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the LORD your God."

International Standard Version
Therefore, keep my injunctions so that you won't practice these detestable things that have been done before you, and so that you won't be defiled in them. I am the LORD."

Majority Standard Bible
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

NET Bible
You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.'"

New Heart English Bible
Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them: I am the LORD your God.'"

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore shall ye keep my ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves in them; I am the LORD your God.

World English Bible
Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am Yahweh your God.’”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and you have kept My charge, so as not to do [any] of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and you do not defile yourselves with them; I [am] your God YHWH.”

Young's Literal Translation
and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I am Jehovah your God.'

Smith's Literal Translation
And they watched my watches so as not to do from the laws of abomination which were done before you, and ye shall not be defiled in them: I am Jehovah your God.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Keep my commandments. Do not the things which they have done, that have been before you, and be not defiled therein. I am the Lord your God.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Keep my commandments. Do not be willing to do the things which have been done by those who were before you, and do not be polluted by these things. I am the Lord your God.

New American Bible
Heed my charge, then, not to observe the abominable customs that have been observed before your time, and thus become impure by them. I, the LORD, am your God.

New Revised Standard Version
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.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore you shall keep my ordinance, and you shall not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and you shall not defile yourselves by them; I am the LORD your God.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Keep my observances and you shall not practice according to one thing from the laws of sins that they who were before you had done, and you shall not be defiled in them; I AM LORD JEHOVAH your God.'"
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore shall ye keep My charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And ye shall keep mine ordinances, that ye may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and ye shall not be polluted in them; for I am the Lord your God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Unlawful Sexual Relations
29Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. 30You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

Cross References
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. / Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, / casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. ...

Deuteronomy 12:29-31
When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land, / be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” / You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

1 Kings 14:24
There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Kings 16:3
Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Chronicles 28:3
Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Chronicles 33:2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

Jeremiah 10:2-3
This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them. / For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.

Ezekiel 20:7-8
And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ / But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 20:18-19
In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. / I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them.

Ezekiel 20:30-31
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? / When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

Ezekiel 23:30
have brought these things upon you, because you have prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.

Romans 1:24-27
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. / They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. / For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ...

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, / nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. / And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? / What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” ...


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore shall you keep my ordinance, that you commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that you defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

abominable

Leviticus 18:3,26,27
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances…

Leviticus 20:23
And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations…

that ye defile

Leviticus 18:24
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

I am

Leviticus 18:2,4
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God…

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Abominable Charge Commit Committed Customs Defile Detestable Disgusting Follow Kept Orders Ordinance Practice Practiced Practise Practised Requirements Statutes Therein Unclean Yourselves
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Abominable Charge Commit Committed Customs Defile Detestable Disgusting Follow Kept Orders Ordinance Practice Practiced Practise Practised Requirements Statutes Therein Unclean Yourselves
Leviticus 18
1. Unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts














You must keep My charge
The phrase "keep My charge" in Hebrew is "וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת־מִשְׁמַרְתִּי" (u'shemartem et-mishmarti). The root word "שָׁמַר" (shamar) means to guard, protect, or observe. This implies a vigilant and active responsibility to uphold God's commandments. In the historical context of ancient Israel, this charge was a divine mandate to maintain holiness and purity, setting the Israelites apart from surrounding nations. The charge is not merely a passive observance but an active engagement in living out God's statutes.

not to practice any of the abominable customs
The Hebrew word for "abominable" is "תּוֹעֵבָה" (to'evah), which refers to practices that are detestable or loathsome to God. These customs were often associated with pagan rituals and idolatry, which were prevalent among the Canaanite nations. The historical context reveals that these practices included various forms of immorality and idolatry, which were in direct opposition to the holiness God required of His people. The call here is to reject and distance oneself from such practices, emphasizing the need for moral and spiritual purity.

that have been done before you
This phrase underscores the historical continuity of these abominable practices. The Israelites were entering a land where these customs were deeply entrenched. The warning serves as a reminder of the past and a caution against repeating the same errors. It highlights the importance of learning from history and the consequences of disobedience to God's laws.

so that you do not defile yourselves by them
The concept of defilement in Hebrew is "טָמֵא" (tamei), which means to become unclean or impure. In the Levitical system, defilement was not just a physical state but a spiritual one, affecting one's relationship with God. The Israelites were called to maintain purity to remain in covenant relationship with God. This phrase serves as a warning that engaging in these customs would lead to spiritual contamination and separation from God.

I am the LORD your God
This declaration, "אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם" (Ani YHWH Eloheichem), is a powerful reminder of God's sovereignty and authority. It reinforces the reason for obedience: not merely to follow rules, but to honor the covenant relationship with the Creator. The use of "LORD" (YHWH) emphasizes God's eternal and unchanging nature, while "your God" personalizes the relationship, reminding the Israelites of their unique identity as God's chosen people. This phrase serves as both a reassurance of God's presence and a call to loyalty and faithfulness.

(30) Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance. As God is no respecter of persons, and as He will assuredly visit His own people with the same punishment which He inflicted upon the former occupants of the laud, the Israelites are to take special care to keep inviolate His ordinances.

Commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you. Better, Do not any one of these abominable statutes which were done, as the Authorised Version translates the word in Deuteronomy 6:24; Deuteronomy 16:12; Deuteronomy 26:16. These abominations were not practised simply as customs, but were legally enacted as statutes of the land, and formed part of their religious institutions (see Leviticus 18:3). A similar state of degeneracy is described by Isaiah, who tells us that the Divine statutes, which is the same word used in the passage before us, were changed. By deviating here from the usual rendering of this phrase the Authorised Version mars the import of the passage.

I am the Lord your God.--This is the declaration with which this group of laws was introduced. Its repetition at the end imparts peculiar solemnity to these enactments. (See Leviticus 18:1.) . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You must keep
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם (ū·šə·mar·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

My charge
מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗י (miš·mar·tî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 4931: A guard, watch, charge, function

not
לְבִלְתִּ֨י (lə·ḇil·tî)
Preposition-l
Strong's 1115: A failure of, not, except, without, unless, besides, because not, until

to practice
עֲשׂ֜וֹת (‘ă·śō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 6213: To do, make

[any] of the abominable
הַתּֽוֹעֵבֹת֙ (hat·tō·w·‘ê·ḇōṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 8441: Something disgusting, an abhorrence, idolatry, an idol

customs
מֵחֻקּ֤וֹת (mê·ḥuq·qō·wṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 2708: Something prescribed, an enactment, statute

that
אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

were practiced
נַעֲשׂ֣וּ (na·‘ă·śū)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

before you,
לִפְנֵיכֶ֔ם (lip̄·nê·ḵem)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 6440: The face

so that you do not
וְלֹ֥א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

defile yourselves
תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּ (ṯiṭ·ṭam·mə·’ū)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 2930: To be or become unclean

by them.
בָּהֶ֑ם (bā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

I
אֲנִ֖י (’ă·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

am the LORD
יְהוָ֥ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God.”
אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT Law: Leviticus 18:30 Therefore you shall keep my requirements that (Le Lv Lev.)
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