Leviticus 19-20

English Standard Version

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. ⁶It 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. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is ^(H)tainted; it will not be accepted, ⁸and 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. ¹⁰And 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; ²¹but ^(AD)he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. ²²And 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. ²⁴And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵But 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. ²⁸You 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. ³⁷And ^(AU)you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Say to the people of Israel, ^(AV)Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³^(AW)I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary ^(AX)unclean and ^(AY)to profane my holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not ^(AZ)put him to death, ⁵then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ^(BA)whoring after Molech.

⁶“If ^(BB)a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, ^(BC)I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷^(BD)Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸^(BE)Keep my statutes and do them; ^(BF)I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ⁹For ^(BG)anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; ^(BH)his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

¹⁰“If a ^(BI)man commits adultery with the wife of^[d] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ¹¹^(BJ)If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ¹²^(BK)If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^(BL)perversion; their blood is upon them. ¹³^(BM)If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ¹⁴^(BN)If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. ¹⁵^(BO)If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶^(BP)If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

¹⁷^(BQ)“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸^(BR)If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ¹⁹^(BS)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked ^(BT)one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. ²⁰^(BU)If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹^(BV)If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity.^[e] He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

²²^(BW)“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not ^(BX)vomit you out. ²³^(BY)And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. ²⁴But ^(BZ)I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land ^(CA)flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, ^(CB)who has separated you from the peoples. ²⁵^(CC)You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. ²⁶^(CD)You shall be holy to me, ^(CE)for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

²⁷^(CF)“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be ^(CG)stoned with stones; ^(CH)their blood shall be upon them.”

Footnotes

Leviticus 19:16 Hebrew blood
Leviticus 19:23 Hebrew as its uncircumcision
Leviticus 19:36 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
Leviticus 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of
Leviticus 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity

Psalm 68

English Standard Version

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

68 ^(A)God shall arise, his enemies shall be ^(B)scattered;
    and those who hate him shall flee before him!
²As ^(C)smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
    ^(D)as wax melts before fire,
    so the wicked shall perish before God!
³But ^(E)the righteous shall be glad;
    they shall exult before God;
    they shall be jubilant with joy!

⁴Sing to God, ^(F)sing praises to his name;
    ^(G)lift up a song to him who ^(H)rides through ^(I)the deserts;
his name is ^(J)the Lord;
    exult before him!
⁵^(K)Father of the fatherless and ^(L)protector of widows
    is God in his holy habitation.
⁶God ^(M)settles the solitary in a home;
    he ^(N)leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
    but ^(O)the rebellious dwell in ^(P)a parched land.

⁷O God, when you ^(Q)went out before your people,
    ^(R)when you marched through ^(S)the wilderness, Selah
⁸^(T)the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
    before God, the One of Sinai,
    before God,^[a] the God of Israel.
⁹^(U)Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
    you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰your flock^[b] found a dwelling in it;
    in your goodness, O God, you ^(V)provided for the needy.

¹¹The Lord gives ^(W)the word;
    ^(X)the women who announce the news are a great host:
¹²    ^(Y)“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home ^(Z)divide the spoil—
¹³    though you men lie among ^(AA)the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
    its pinions with shimmering gold.
¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there,
    let snow fall on ^(AB)Zalmon.

¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
    O many-peaked^[c] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
    at the mount that God ^(AC)desired for his abode,
    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
¹⁷^(AD)The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
    thousands upon thousands;
    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
¹⁸^(AE)You ascended on high,
    ^(AF)leading a host of captives in your train
    and ^(AG)receiving gifts among men,
even among ^(AH)the rebellious, ^(AI)that the Lord God may dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord,
    who daily ^(AJ)bears us up;
    God is our salvation. Selah
²⁰Our God is a God of salvation,
    ^(AK)and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
²¹^(AL)But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
    the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
²²The Lord said,
    “I will bring them back ^(AM)from Bashan,
^(AN)I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
²³that you may ^(AO)strike your feet in their blood,
    that ^(AP)the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

²⁴Your procession is^[d] seen, O God,
    the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
²⁵^(AQ)the singers in front, ^(AR)the musicians last,
    between them ^(AS)virgins playing tambourines:
²⁶^(AT)“Bless God in the great congregation,
    the Lord, O you^[e] who are of ^(AU)Israel's fountain!”
²⁷There is ^(AV)Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
    the princes of Judah in their throng,
    the princes of ^(AW)Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸^(AX)Summon your power, O God,^[f]
    the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem
    kings shall ^(AY)bear gifts to you.
³⁰Rebuke ^(AZ)the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
    the herd of ^(BA)bulls with the calves of the peoples.
^(BB)Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
    scatter the peoples who delight in war.^[g]
³¹Nobles shall come from ^(BC)Egypt;
    ^(BD)Cush shall hasten to ^(BE)stretch out her hands to God.

³²^(BF)O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
    sing praises to the Lord, Selah
³³to him ^(BG)who rides in ^(BH)the heavens, the ancient heavens;
    behold, he ^(BI)sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴^(BJ)Ascribe power to God,
    whose majesty is over Israel,
    and whose ^(BK)power is in ^(BL)the skies.
³⁵^(BM)Awesome is God from his^[h] ^(BN)sanctuary;
    the God of Israel—he is the one who gives ^(BO)power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

Footnotes

Psalm 68:8 Or before God, even Sinai before God
Psalm 68:10 Or your congregation
Psalm 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16
Psalm 68:24 Or has been
Psalm 68:26 The Hebrew for you is plural here
Psalm 68:28 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Your God has summoned your power
Psalm 68:30 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
Psalm 68:35 Septuagint; Hebrew your