Passage
“You shall also say to the sons of Israel: ‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the sojourners sojourning in Israel who gives any of his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Leviticus 20:2 (LSB)
Nearby Context
Leviticus 20:1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Leviticus 20:2 “You shall also say to the sons of Israel: ‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the sojourners sojourning in Israel who gives any of his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Leviticus 20:3 I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people because he has given some of those who are his seed to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name.
Leviticus 20:4 If the people of the land, however, should ever turn a blind eye to that man when he gives any of those who are his seed to Molech, so as not to put him to death,
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "shall", "sons", "israel", "sojourners", and "sojourning". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "sons", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying..." into verse 3's "I will also set My face against...", so "shall" and "sons" 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 "shall" and "sons" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.