The big picture
Leviticus 20 returns to several prohibitions from earlier chapters but changes the emphasis by naming consequences. The chapter distinguishes death penalties, being cut off, childlessness, bearing iniquity, and divine judgment rather than turning every forbidden act into one legal formula. Molech worship receives both communal punishment and the LORD's declared opposition, and the people themselves become accountable if they deliberately hide their eyes from the offense. Sexual prohibitions likewise receive specific sanctions, often naming both participants where the law assigns liability to both. The final movement reconnects those penalties to the land, to Israel's separation from surrounding peoples, and to the distinctions between clean and unclean. The chapter's closing verse then treats practitioners of spirit consultation separately from those who seek them. The result is severe but precise: Leviticus is not merely repeating that certain conduct is wrong. It is showing that different acts carry different stated consequences within Israel's covenantal law.
Central truth
Leviticus 20 attaches covenant penalties to practices that defile Israel and closes by commanding the people to remain distinct because the Lord has separated them to be holy.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Leviticus 20:1: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,”
Slow down at the turning point
Leviticus 20:5: “Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with…”
Keep this word trail visible
death, people, surely, nakedness, blood, wife
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Leviticus 20:1-6
Molech and the community's silence
Begin with the first crime, which is child sacrifice. Explain Molech as a deity worshipped with offerings of children, and that 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 32:35 record it in Israel's later history. Read 20:2-5, noting that the people of the land are responsible to act and that their silence draws God's judgement. Then 20:6 on mediums. Teach this first so the class sees that the chapter opens with the most horrifying violation of family and worship, and that the community cannot look away.
Leviticus 20:7-8
Holiness at the centre
Pause on these two verses as the centre of the chapter. Read them aloud. Explain that the call to "be ye holy" is matched by "I am the LORD which sanctify you": God commands holiness and God gives it. Teach it here because learners need to hear it before the penalties. Without it, the chapter sounds like a list of executions. With it, the penalties are the boundary of a holy people that God himself is forming.
Leviticus 20:9-21
The penalties
Summarise the list with care: cursing parents (20:9), adultery (20:10), incest with a father's wife or daughter-in-law (20:11-12), male intercourse with men (20:13), a man taking a wife and her mother (20:14), bestiality (20:15-16), and other relationships with penalties of cutting off or childlessness (20:17-21). Explain that "his blood shall be upon him" means responsibility for his own death. Teach the list honestly and without relish. Remind the group that these were penalties within Israel's covenant law, given to a nation with its own courts.
Leviticus 20:22-27
Holy unto me
Close with the purpose. Read 20:22-26 and the repeated idea of separation: God has "separated you from other people" (20:24) and "severed you from other people, that ye should be mine" (20:26). Then 20:27 returns to the mediums, framing the chapter. Teach this last because it is where the chapter places its weight: a people belonging to God, distinguished in worship, family, table and land. The penalties guard that belonging.
John 8:3-11; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
How Christians read the penalties
End by explaining how Christians have read the chapter. Christians across traditions do not carry out these death penalties, and they generally hold that the penalties belonged to Israel's civil and covenant order. In John 8 Jesus does not condemn the woman taken in adultery and tells her to sin no more; in 1 Corinthians 5 Paul applies church discipline rather than death. Traditions differ on how the moral boundaries continue. Set out the range fairly, and stress that the New Testament keeps both the seriousness of sin and the offer of forgiveness.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"This chapter means Christians should support the death penalty for these sins."
The penalties were given to Israel as a nation under the covenant at Sinai, with its own courts and land. No Christian tradition carries them out as church law, and the New Testament responds to the same sins with repentance, discipline and restoration (John 8:11, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 2 Corinthians 2:6-8). Questions about modern law belong to another discussion; this lesson should not become a political debate.
"Chapter 20 is just a repeat of chapter 18."
Chapter 18 states boundaries as commands; chapter 20 attaches penalties and adds Molech, mediums and cursing parents. It also places 20:7-8 at the centre and ends with the purpose of separation, "that ye should be mine" (20:26). The repetition shows how seriously the boundaries were meant, and the differences show the shift from instruction to justice.
"God punishes children for their parents' sins in this chapter."
Verse 2 makes the one who gives his child to Molech guilty, and verse 5 includes the family that follows him in the practice. The child sacrificed is the victim the law protects. The penalties fall on those who commit the acts. The chapter's anger burns for the children who were harmed.
"Calling anything an abomination is just hate."
The word marks something God finds detestable and incompatible with his people. Leviticus uses it of certain foods (11:10), of sexual acts (18:22, 20:13) and of practices in worship. Proverbs uses it of lying lips and false weights. It is a strong moral and religious judgement. Teach it honestly, and remember that the same law commands love for neighbour and stranger in 19:18 and 19:34.
Learning objectives
- Identify the major offense groups in the chapter.
- Explain the community's duty regarding Molech worship.
- Trace holiness language in verses 7 to 8.
- Distinguish prohibited acts from their stated penalties.
- Explain the land warning in verses 22 to 24.
- Identify separation as the chapter's concluding rationale.
Teacher preparation
- Group the chapter into Molech and occult practices, family and sexual offenses, then the concluding holiness charge.
- Mark every stated penalty instead of assuming all prohibited acts receive the same consequence.
- Read chapter 18 first; chapter 20 revisits several boundaries and adds judicial consequences.
- Prepare to discuss severe penalties without softening them or pretending they are instructions to a modern church court.
- Note the closing return to clean and unclean distinctions in verse 25.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Leviticus 20:7-8 commands Israel to sanctify themselves, be holy, keep the Lord's statutes, and remember that the Lord sanctifies them.
Scripture-supported
Verses 22-24 warn that the land can expel Israel as it expelled the nations whose practices Israel must not imitate.
Strong inference
Because the chapter addresses offenders and the congregation judging some offenses, holiness here includes communal responsibility.
Possible or traditional reading
The exact historical form of Molech worship is discussed in scholarship, but this chapter clearly treats giving offspring to Molech as a defiling act of rival worship.
Limit
The chapter does not authorize a church or individual Christian to impose ancient Israel's civil penalties.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What must the people do if someone gives offspring to Molech, and what happens if they deliberately ignore it?
What a good answer contains
He "shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones" (20:2). God himself will "set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people" (20:3). If the people "hide their eyes" and do not act, God will set his face "against that man, and against his family" and all who follow him (20:4-5). A good answer sees that the crime is child sacrifice and that the community's silence is treated as complicity.
Show teacher guidance
Use verses 2-5. The chapter assigns a public penalty and then says God himself will set his face against both the offender and those who hide their eyes.
2. How are familiar spirits and wizards treated in verses 6 and 27?
What a good answer contains
Turning to them is called going "a whoring after them", and God will "set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people" (20:6). Those who practise as mediums or wizards "shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones" (20:27). A good answer distinguishes the person who consults (20:6) from the practitioner (20:27) and sees why both frame the chapter: false worship opens and closes it.
Show teacher guidance
Notice both consultation and professional practice. The chapter condemns seeking them and separately assigns a penalty to those who function as mediums.
3. What commands interrupt the penalty list in verses 7-8?
What a good answer contains
"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God" (20:7), and "ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you" (20:8). A good answer sees that the penalty list is interrupted by a call to holiness and a statement that God is the one who makes them holy. The penalties are not the centre; God's sanctifying of his people is.
Show teacher guidance
Expect sanctify yourselves, be holy, keep statutes, and the declaration 'I am the Lord which sanctify you.' These verses state the theological center.
4. How does chapter 20 differ from chapter 18 when both name sexual boundaries?
What a good answer contains
Chapter 18 states the boundaries as commands, "thou shalt not"; chapter 20 attaches penalties: "shall surely be put to death" (20:10-16), "cut off" (20:17-18), or "they shall die childless" (20:20). A good answer sees that the same acts are now treated as matters for the community's justice. Some penalties are carried out by people, others by God. A weak answer assumes the chapters say exactly the same thing.
Show teacher guidance
Chapter 20 adds consequences such as death, being cut off, childlessness, or bearing iniquity. Compare function, not merely vocabulary.
5. What does the land warning contribute in verses 22-24?
What a good answer contains
The land will "spue you not out" if Israel keeps the statutes (20:22), and Israel is not to walk in the ways of the nations whom God cast out, "for they committed all these things" (20:23). But God has promised, "Ye shall inherit their land", "a land that floweth with milk and honey" (20:24). A good answer sees both warning and gift, and that Israel holds the land only as long as it remains faithful.
Show teacher guidance
Israel is warned not to copy the nations lest the land expel them. The land is not a passive backdrop to covenant conduct.
6. How does the chapter conclude its argument in verses 25-26?
What a good answer contains
By returning to the clean and unclean: "Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean" (20:25), and then the purpose: "ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine" (20:26). A good answer sees that the food laws of chapter 11 are tied to belonging, and that the whole chapter ends with "that ye should be mine".
Show teacher guidance
It returns to clean and unclean distinctions and says the Lord separated Israel from other peoples so they would be his.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Have learners distinguish private preference from covenant loyalty in the chapter. Ask which practices are presented as rival allegiance, defilement, or rejection of God's boundaries.
Relationships and community
Examine the warning against 'hiding the eyes' in verses 4-5. Discuss the text's concern with communal refusal to address serious wrongdoing without turning the class into a forum for accusations.
Jurisdiction matters
Ask the group to separate enduring moral condemnation from the specific civil penalties administered within ancient Israel's covenant order.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Read with care
Explain that this chapter is hard and will be handled carefully. Read 20:1-5 and take question one and confusion three.
Mediums
Read 20:6 and 20:27 and take question two.
The centre
Read 20:7-8 and take question three.
The penalties
Summarise 20:9-21 and take question four and confusion two.
Holy unto me and the handout
Read 20:22-26 and take questions five and six. Take confusion one and read John 8:10-11. Read the key verse together and pray.
90 minutes
Opening
Explain the purpose of the session and how the passage will be handled. Read 20:1-5 and take question one.
Silence and complicity
Discuss 20:4-5 and confusion three. Ask what it means for a community to hide its eyes.
Mediums
Read 20:6 and 20:27 and take question two.
God who sanctifies
Read 20:7-8 and take question three. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.
The penalties
Summarise 20:9-21. Take question four and confusions two and four.
The land and the people
Read 20:22-26 and take questions five and six.
The New Testament
Read John 8:3-11 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 and 6:9-11. Take confusion one and set out how traditions read the penalties.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together and pray for holiness and mercy.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Do not teach chapter 20's penalties to young children. Use 20:7-8 and 20:26 alone: God wanted his people to be his own and to be holy. Ask them what it means to belong to a family. Make a badge saying I belong to God. If children ask about the harder verses, say that God gave serious rules to protect people.
Youth
Teenagers may have heard these verses quoted in arguments. Read 20:7-8 and 20:26 first, then summarise the penalties honestly. Let them ask hard questions and answer from the text. Read John 8:3-11. Steer away from political debates and toward how Christians hold both holiness and mercy. Be aware some may be quietly struggling with these issues.
Adults
Adults can read the chapter in full and compare it with chapter 18. Discuss Israel's civil law, the meaning of the penalties and the shift to church discipline in the New Testament. Set out fairly how traditions read the moral boundaries today. Avoid political advocacy. Be gentle with anyone in the room who carries guilt or a family history touched by these sins.
One to one
Read 20:7-8 and 20:26 first, and then ask whether the person wants to discuss the penalties. If they feel condemned, read John 8:10-11 and 1 Corinthians 6:11 together. If they are troubled by the severity, discuss God's holiness and the covenant setting. Listen more than you speak.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Leviticus 20:1–27
The passage in brief
Leviticus 20 attaches penalties to practices that defiled Israel: giving children to Molech, consulting mediums, cursing parents, and forbidden sexual relationships. At its centre God says, be holy, for I am the LORD who makes you holy. At its end God reminds Israel that he has set them apart from other peoples so that they would belong to him. The penalties guarded a holy people living in God's land.
A verse to keep
And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
Leviticus 20:26 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What does God say in 20:7-8 at the centre of the chapter?
Why does God say he has separated Israel in 20:26?
How does Jesus treat the woman in John 8:10-11?
This week
This week, thank God that he is the one who makes you holy, and ask him for help in one area of weakness.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
