You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived: and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.
- KJV 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.
- BSB You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.
- NKJV According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.
- NLT So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must not imitate the practices of Egypt or Canaan, the cultures they left and are entering.
Overview
God calls his people to a distinct way of life, set apart from the surrounding nations' customs. Both their past in Egypt and their future in Canaan posed temptations to compromise. This call to nonconformity anticipates the New Testament summons not to be conformed to the world but transformed by God's will.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 23:24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
- Lev 20:23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
- 1 Pet 4:2–4that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
- Ezek 23:8She hasn’t left her prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her. They carressed her youthful nipples; and they poured out their prostitution on her.
- Ezek 20:7–8I said to them, ‘Each of you throw away the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’
- Deut 12:30–31be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
- Rom 12:2Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- Deut 12:4You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.
- Ps 106:35but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
- Eph 5:7–11Therefore don’t be partakers with them.
- Jer 10:2–3Yahweh says, “Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.
- Lev 18:24–30“‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 18:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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