Lev 18, 7-18 You shall not have intercourse

Leviticus 18 (chosen pages)

(Lev 18, 7-18) You shall not have intercourse

[7] You shall not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. Besides, since she is your own mother, you shall not have intercourse with her. [8] You shall not have intercourse with your father's wife, for that would be a disgrace to your father. [9] You shall not have intercourse with your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in your own household or born elsewhere. [10] You shall not have intercourse with your son's daughter or with your daughter's daughter, for that would be a disgrace to your own family. [11] You shall not have intercourse with the daughter whom your father's wife bore to him, since she, too, is your sister. [12] You shall not have intercourse with your father's sister, since she is your father's relative. [13] You shall not have intercourse with your mother's sister, since she is your mother's relative. [14] You shall not disgrace your father's brother by being intimate with his wife, since she, too, is your aunt. [15] You shall not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, and therefore you shall not disgrace her. [16] You shall not have intercourse with your brother's wife, for that would be a disgrace to your brother. [17] You shall not have intercourse with a woman and also with her daughter, nor shall you marry and have intercourse with her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; this would be shameful, because they are related to her. [18] While your wife is still living you shall not marry her sister as her rival; for thus you would disgrace your first wife.

(CCC 2388) Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them (Cf. Lev 18:7-20). St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave offense: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you … For a man is living with his father's wife.... In the name of the Lord Jesus ... you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh...." (1 Cor 5:1, 4-5). Incest corrupts family relationships and marks a regression toward animality. (CCC 2521) Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity. (CCC 2523) There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.