Leviticus 20:2 (DRB)

Passage

Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: If any man of the children Israel, or of the strangers that dwell in Israel, give of his seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die. The people of the land shall stone him.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 20:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Leviticus 20:2 Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: If any man of the children Israel, or of the strangers that dwell in Israel, give of his seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die. The people of the land shall stone him.

Leviticus 20:3 And I will set my face against him: and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch, and hath defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name.

Leviticus 20:4 And if the people of the land neglecting, and as it were little regarding my commandment, let alone the man that hath given of his seed to Moloch, and will not kill him:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "shalt", "thou", "children", "israel", and "strangers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "shalt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying..." into verse 3's "And I will set my face against...", so "thus" and "shalt" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thus" and "shalt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.