Page:Against profane dealing with holy matrimony.djvu/18

 Now, what are the customs which were so abominable in the old inhabitants of God's Holy Land, and caused the land itself to vomit them out? (the customs, I mean, in respect of marriage: for of the other horrors mentioned in this chapter we are not now compelled to speak.) They are all forbidden in one general principle: “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord.” This being laid down in the 6th verse, the following verses allege so many instances, whereby God's people might understand what “near of kin” means. And it is remarkable, that in this enunciation the law makes no distinction between those who are akin by marriage and those who are akin by blood, but mentions them indiscriminately, as if the one sort were precluded from marrying under the same penalties as the other.

For these are the degrees expressly forbidden, in their order. First, a natural mother, in v. 7. Next, a father's wife, or step-mother, in v. 8: which is the case mentioned in 1 Cor. v. 1. Next, a sister, v. 9. Next, a granddaughter, v. 10. Next, a half-sister, v. 11. Next, an aunt by the father's side, v. 12. Next, an aunt by the mother's side, v. 13. Next,