This page gives you ready-to-use study questions for Leviticus 20, with a leader’s note for each one. It is written for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study. The chapter is hard reading for many people, so the questions move from what the text says, to what it meant to Israel, to how its concern for holiness speaks to believers today.
Leviticus 20 at a Glance
God speaks to Moses and tells him to instruct the people about the penalties for offering children to Molech and for turning to mediums and spiritists. The chapter then moves through a list of sexual offenses that threaten family life and the community’s purity. Near the end, God calls Israel to keep his statutes so the land will not vomit them out, and he reminds them that he has set them apart from the nations.
The chapter opens and closes on the same theme: holiness belongs to God, and Israel is called to reflect it. Use the questions below in order, or pick the set that fits your group’s time and depth.
Observation Questions
Use these to slow the group down and read carefully before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask someone to read the passage aloud first, then let the group answer from the text itself.
Leviticus 20:7-8
7 “‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God. 8 You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
(WEB)
Read these early in the session to set the chapter’s central call. They state the purpose behind every command that follows, and they remind the group that holiness begins with God’s initiative.
Leviticus 20:22
“‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, may not vomit you out.
(WEB)
This verse gives the chapter’s warning about the land and its people. Reading it aloud helps the group feel the seriousness of the covenant without reducing it to a list of rules.
Leviticus 20:24
But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
(WEB)
Pair this with verse 22 to show the grace behind the commands. God gives the land as a gift, and the instructions describe how to live as people who have received it.
Leviticus 20:26
You shall be holy to me; for I, the LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
(WEB)
This is the heart of the chapter, stating that God is holy and has set his people apart. Let the group respond briefly after reading it, sharing one word that stands out to them.
Leviticus 20:27
“‘A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’”
(WEB)
Ending with this verse gives the group a sober closing image, but read it alongside verse 26 so the warning is heard within God’s calling to belong to him.
Memory Verse for Leviticus 20
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you as people you have called to belong to you. We confess the things we have turned to in place of you, and we ask for hearts that look first to your word and your presence. Make our homes places of trust and our lives reflections of your holiness. Teach us to walk in your ways and not in the patterns of the world around us. Thank you for setting us apart and claiming us as your own. Keep us faithful in the coming week, and let what we have read today shape how we love, speak and serve. Amen.
