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23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nations[a] which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 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.[b] 25 Therefore you must distinguish[c] 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[d] I have distinguished for you as unclean.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:23 tc One medieval Hebrew ms, Smr, and all the major ancient versions have the plural “nations.” Some English versions retain the singular (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); others have the plural “nations” (e.g., NAB, NIV) and still others translate as “people” (e.g., TEV, NLT).
  2. Leviticus 20:24 tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”
  3. Leviticus 20:25 tn Heb “And you shall distinguish.” The verb is the same as “set apart” at the end of the previous verse. The fact that God had “set them apart” from the other peoples around them called for them to “distinguish between” the clean and the unclean, etc.
  4. Leviticus 20:25 tn The word “creatures” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the following relative clause modifies the animal, bird, or creeping thing mentioned earlier, and not the ground itself.
  5. Leviticus 20:25 tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.”

23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations(A) I am going to drive out before you.(B) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(C) 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(D) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.(E)

25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.(F) Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you.

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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.

24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.

25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

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23 (A)And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and (B)therefore I abhor them. 24 But (C)I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, (D)who has separated you from the peoples. 25 (E)You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, (F)and you shall not make yourselves [a]abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as [b]unclean.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:25 detestable or loathsome
  2. Leviticus 20:25 defiled

23 (A)And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But (B)I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land (C)flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, (D)who has separated you from the peoples. 25 (E)You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.

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