A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ² For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^{[b] (G)}that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Lord Is Holy

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ^(A)You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ^3 (B)Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^(C)you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. ^4 (D)Do not turn to idols ^(E)or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

^5 (F)“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so ^(G)that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. ⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is ^(H)tainted; it will not be accepted, ⁸ and everyone who eats it shall ^(I)bear his iniquity, because ^(J)he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

^9 (K)“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. ¹⁰ And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

^11 (L)“You shall not steal; ^(M)you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. ^12 (N)You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so ^(O)profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

^13 (P)“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. ^(Q)The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. ^14 (R)You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall ^(S)fear your God: I am the Lord.

^15 (T)“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ^16 (U)You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not ^(V)stand up against the life^[a] of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

^17 (W)“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but ^(X)you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you ^(Y)incur sin because of him. ^18 (Z)You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but ^(AA)you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

^19 (AB)“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. ^(AC)You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

²⁰ “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; ²¹ but ^(AD)he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. ²² And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

²³ “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.^[b] Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. ²⁴ And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.

^26 (AE)“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. ^(AF)You shall not interpret omens or ^(AG)tell fortunes. ^27 (AH)You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not make any ^(AI)cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

^29 (AJ)“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. ^30 (AK)You shall keep my Sabbaths and ^(AL)reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

^31 (AM)“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

^32 (AN)“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall ^(AO)fear your God: I am the Lord.

^33 (AP)“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ^34 (AQ)You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and ^(AR)you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

^35 (AS)“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. ^36 (AT)You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:^[c] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ And ^(AU)you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”