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Seven Laws

The Seven Noahide Laws, the Sheva Mitzvot, are the framework of Noahide faith and practice.  They begin with seven basic commandments which expand into numerous other laws.  One could devote a lifetime to learning these and still not uncover the entire instruction of Torah for non-Jews.

Do Not Commit Idolatry

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Idolatry is forbidden.

Man is commanded to believe in the One G-d alone and worship only G-d. The following verse is a reference to the prohibition against idolatry; for it says in Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me."

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Do Not Commit Murder

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Murder is forbidden: The life of a human being, formed in G-d's image, is sacred

The edict against murder is stated in Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, among man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of G-d He made man."

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Do Not Commit Adultery

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Do Not Have Forbidden Sexual Relations.

Human beings are not sexual objects, nor is pleasure the ultimate goal of life.

Five of the six types of relations which are forbidden by G-d to Gentiles are covered in Gen. 2:24: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they shall become one flesh."

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Do Not Commit Theft

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Theft is forbidden. The world is not ours to do with as we please

The prohibition of theft is contained within the permission which G-d granted to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16 to eat from the trees of the garden. This implies that if the permission had not been granted, they would have been forbidden to do so, because the property did not belong to them. This applied specifically to the fruit of the Tree of "Knowledge of Good and Evil" which was forbidden for them to take, under penalty of death (Genesis 2:16-17).

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Do Not Commit Blasphemy

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Cursing the name of G-d is forbidden.

Besides honoring and respecting G-d, we learn from this precept that our speech must be sanctified, as that is the distinctive sign which separated man from the animals.

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Establish Courts of Justice

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Mankind is commanded to establish courts of justice and a just social order to enforce the six laws and enact any other useful laws or customs.

What follows is a reference to laws of justice for it says in Genesis 18:19, "For I have known him so he will command (Yitzaveh) his children after him to keep the way of the Lord and righteousness and justice."

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Don't Eat The Flesh of a Living Animal

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Eating the flesh of a living animal is forbidden.

This teaches us to be sensitive to cruelty to animals. (This was commanded to Noah for the first time along with the permission of eating meat. The negative laws were enforced at the Garden of Eden.)
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