Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have been defiled;

You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor any stranger who sojourns among you

that the land not also vomit you out when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

Therefore you shall keep My charge, so that you do not do any of these abominable customs which were done before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am Jehovah your God.

and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all those abominations?

if he has exacted usury or taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, he shall die the death; his blood shall be upon him.

One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you humbles his sister, his father's daughter.

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, prostitutes, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Now therefore, if you will listen to obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.

And you shall be holy unto Me, for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

But thus you shall deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and shatter their pillars, and chop down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

For you are a holy people unto Jehovah your God, and Jehovah has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

There is no one like the Mighty God of Jeshurun, riding the Heavens for your help, and in His majesty upon the clouds.

And Israel shall dwell alone in safety, the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine; his heavens shall also drop dew.

They joined themselves also to Baal-Peor, and ate sacrifices to the dead.

They did not destroy the peoples as Jehovah had commanded them,

they served their idols, which were a snare to them.

and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.

Israel was holiness to Jehovah, and the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, says Jehovah.

And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.

The priests did not say, Where is Jehovah? And they who handle the Law did not know Me; the shepherds also rebelled against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

Yet I planted you a noble vine, a true seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate shoots of an alien vine to Me?

For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is stained before Me, says the Lord Jehovah.

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasing; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives thrust away his heart.

For Solomon departed after Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

And Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.

When these things were done, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

For they have taken some of their daughters for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the rulers and officials has been foremost in this treachery.

Now therefore, do not give your daughters for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; nor seek after their peace or prosperity forever, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.

And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and are dwelling with foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this.

In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.

Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, acting treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

But, like Adam, they have transgressed the covenant; they have dealt treacherously against Me there.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.