Leviticus 19
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
19 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Say to all the assembly of the Israelites, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.(A)
3 Each of you shall give due respect to his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths holy. I the Lord am your God.
4 Do not turn to idols and things of nought or make for yourselves molten gods. I the Lord am your God.
5 And when you offer a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the day following; and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.
7 If it is eaten at all the third day, it is loathsome; it will not be accepted.
8 But everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, for he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from his people [and not be included in the atonement made for them].
9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very corners, neither shall you gather the fallen ears or gleanings of your harvest.
10 And you shall not glean your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather its fallen grapes; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.
11 You shall not steal, or deal falsely, or lie one to another.(B)
12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 You shall not defraud or oppress your neighbor or rob him; the wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until morning.
14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 You shall do no injustice in judging a case; you shall not be partial to the poor or show a preference for the mighty, but in righteousness and according to the merits of the case judge your neighbor.
16 You shall not go up and down as a dispenser of gossip and scandal among your people, nor shall you [secure yourself by false testimony or by silence and] endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart; but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.(C)
18 You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.(D)
19 You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your domestic animals breed with a different kind [of animal]; you shall not sow your field with mixed seed, neither wear a garment of linen mixed with wool.
20 And if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave betrothed to a husband and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, they shall be punished [after investigation]; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free;
21 But he shall bring his guilt or trespass offering to the Lord to the door of the Tent of Meeting, a ram for a guilt or trespass offering.
22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt or trespass offering before the Lord for his sin, and he shall be forgiven for committing the sin.
23 And when you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit of them as inedible and forbidden to you for three years; it shall not be eaten.
24 In the fourth year all their fruit shall be holy for giving praise to the Lord.
25 But in the fifth year you may eat of the fruit [of the trees], that their produce may enrich you; I am the Lord your God.
26 You shall not eat anything with the blood; neither shall you use magic, omens, or witchcraft [or predict events by horoscope or signs and lucky days].
27 You shall not round the corners of the hair of your heads nor trim the corners of your beard [as some idolaters do].
28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor print or tattoo any marks upon you; I am the Lord.
29 Do not profane your daughter by causing her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and become full of wickedness.
30 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31 Turn not to those [mediums] who have familiar spirits or to wizards; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
32 You shall rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man and [reverently] fear your God. I am the Lord.
33 And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.
34 But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
35 You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.
36 You shall have accurate and just balances, just weights, just ephah and hin measures. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 You shall observe all My statutes and ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19
Living Bible
19 1-2 The Lord also told Moses to tell the people of Israel, “You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. You must respect your mothers and fathers, and obey my Sabbath law, for I am the Lord your God. 3-4 Do not make or worship idols, for I am Jehovah your God.
5 “When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it correctly so that it will be accepted: 6 Eat it the same day you offer it, or the next day at the latest; any remaining until the third day must be burned. 7 For any of it eaten on the third day is repulsive to me and will not be accepted. 8 If you eat it on the third day, you are guilty, for you profane the holiness of Jehovah, and you shall be excommunicated from Jehovah’s people.
9 “When you harvest your crops, don’t reap the corners of your fields, and don’t pick up stray grains of wheat from the ground. 10 It is the same with your grape crop—don’t strip every last piece of fruit from the vines, and don’t pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for those traveling through, for I am Jehovah your God.
11 “You must not steal nor lie nor defraud. 12 You must not swear to a falsehood, thus bringing reproach upon the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.
13 “You shall not rob nor oppress anyone, and you shall pay your hired workers promptly. If something is due them, don’t even keep it overnight.
14 “You must not curse the deaf nor trip up a blind man as he walks. Fear your God; I am Jehovah!
15 “Judges must always be just in their sentences, not noticing whether a person is poor or rich; they must always be perfectly fair.
16 “Don’t gossip. Don’t falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime,[a] for I am Jehovah.
17 “Don’t hate your brother. Rebuke anyone who sins; don’t let him get away with it, or you will be equally guilty. 18 Don’t seek vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge; but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Jehovah.
19 “Obey my laws: Do not mate your cattle with a different kind; don’t sow your field with two kinds of seed; don’t wear clothes made of half wool and half linen.
20 “If a man seduces a slave girl[b] who is engaged to be married, they shall be tried in a court but not put to death, because she is not free. 21 The man involved shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the offering shall be a ram. 22 The priest shall make atonement with the ram for the sin the man has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
23 “When you enter the land and have planted all kinds of fruit trees, do not eat the first three crops, for they are considered ceremonially defiled.[c] 24 And the fourth year the entire crop shall be devoted to the Lord, and shall be given to the Lord in praise to him. 25 Finally, in the fifth year, the crop is yours.
26 “I am Jehovah your God! You must not eat meat with undrained blood nor use fortune-telling or witchcraft.
27 “You must not trim off your hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beard, as the heathen do.[d] 28 You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.
29 “Do not violate your daughter’s sanctity by making her a prostitute, lest the land become full of enormous wickedness.
30 “Keep my Sabbath laws and reverence my Tabernacle, for I am the Lord.
31 “Do not defile yourselves by consulting mediums and wizards, for I am Jehovah your God.
32 “You shall give due honor and respect to the elderly, in the fear of God. I am Jehovah.
33 “Do not take advantage of foreigners in your land; do not wrong them. 34 They must be treated like any other citizen; love them as yourself, for remember that you too were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.
35-36 “You must be impartial in judgment. Use accurate measurements—lengths, weights, and volumes—and give full measure, for I am Jehovah your God who brought you from the land of Egypt. 37 You must heed all of my commandments and ordinances, carefully obeying them, for I am Jehovah.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 19:16 Don’t falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime, literally, “Neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor.”
- Leviticus 19:20 slave girl, literally, “not yet redeemed, nor given her freedom.”
- Leviticus 19:23 for they are considered ceremonially defiled, literally, “you shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision.”
- Leviticus 19:27 as the heathen do, implied.
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.