Leviticus 19
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Laws of Holiness
19 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy(A) because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.(B)
3 “Each of you is to respect his mother and father.(C) You are to keep My Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. 4 Do not turn to idols(D) or make cast images(E) of gods for yourselves;(F) I am Yahweh your God.
5 “When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 6 It is to be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day, but what remains on the third day must be burned up.(G) 7 If any is eaten on the third day, it is a repulsive thing; it will not be accepted.(H) 8 Anyone who eats it will bear his punishment, for he has profaned what is holy to the Lord. That person must be cut off from his people.(I)
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings(J) of your harvest. 10 You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor(K) and the foreign resident;(L) I am Yahweh your God.
11 “You must not steal.(M) You must not act deceptively(N) or lie(O) to one another. 12 You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God;(P) I am Yahweh.
13 “You must not oppress(Q) your neighbor or rob(R) him. The wages due a hired hand(S) must not remain with you until morning. 14 You must not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,(T) but you are to fear your God;(U) I am Yahweh.(V)
15 “You must not act unjustly(W) when deciding a case. Do not be partial(X) to the poor or give preference to the rich;(Y) judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You must not go about spreading slander(Z) among your people; you must not jeopardize[a] your neighbor’s life; I am Yahweh.
17 “You must not harbor hatred against your brother.[b](AA) Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.(AB) 18 Do not take revenge(AC) or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself;(AD) I am Yahweh.
19 “You are to keep My statutes. You must not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material.(AE)
20 “If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman who is a slave designated for another man, but she has not been redeemed(AF) or given her freedom, there must be punishment.[c] They are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 However, he must bring a ram as his restitution offering to the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(AG) 22 The priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord with the ram of the restitution offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed.
23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden.[d] It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering(AH) to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you;(AI) I am Yahweh your God.
26 “You are not to eat anything with blood in it.[e](AJ) You are not to practice divination(AK) or sorcery.(AL) 27 You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.(AM) 28 You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead(AN) or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am Yahweh.
29 “Do not debase[f](AO) your daughter by making her a prostitute,(AP) or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity. 30 You must keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary;(AQ) I am Yahweh.
31 “Do not turn to mediums[g](AR) or consult spiritists,[h](AS) or you will be defiled by them; I am Yahweh your God.
32 “You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor the old.(AT) Fear your God; I am Yahweh.
33 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress(AU) him. 34 You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself,(AV) for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt;(AW) I am Yahweh your God.
35 “You must not be unfair(AX) in measurements of length, weight, or volume. 36 You are to have honest balances,(AY) honest weights, an honest dry measure,[i] and an honest liquid measure;[j](AZ) I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am Yahweh.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 19:16 Lit not stand against
- Leviticus 19:17 Or your fellow Israelite
- Leviticus 19:20 Or compensation
- Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
- Leviticus 19:26 Or [anything] over its blood
- Leviticus 19:29 Lit profane
- Leviticus 19:31 Or spirits of the dead
- Leviticus 19:31 Or familiar spirits
- Leviticus 19:36 Lit honest ephah; an ephah is a dry measure of grain equivalent to about 23 quarts.
- Leviticus 19:36 Lit honest hin; a hin is a liquid measure of about 1 gallon.
Leviticus 19
International Standard Version
Ritual Purity
19 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the entire assembly of Israel that they are to be holy, since I, the Lord your God, am holy.
3 “Each of you is to fear his mother and father.
“Observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
4 “You are not to turn to their idols or cast gods out of melted metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
5 “When you offer a peace offering to the Lord, you are to offer it for your acceptance. 6 Your sacrifice is to be eaten on that day and the next day. Anything that remains to the third day is to be incinerated. 7 If it is eaten on the third day, it’s unclean. It won’t be accepted. 8 Anyone who eats it will bear the punishment of his sin, since he will have defiled himself regarding the Lord’s holy things. That person[a] is to be eliminated from contact with his people.”[b]
Harvesting and Gleaning
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field—that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest. 10 You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the Lord your God.”
Just Dealings
11 “You are not to steal or lie or deal falsely with your neighbor.
12 “You are not to use my name to deceive, thereby defiling the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 “You are not to oppress your neighbor or rob him.[c]
“The wages of a hired laborer are not to remain in your possession until morning.
14 “You are not to curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block before the blind.
“You are to fear God. I am the Lord.
15 “You are not to be unjust in deciding a case. You are not to show partiality to the poor or honor the great. Instead, decide the case of your neighbor with righteousness.”
Social Responsibility
16 “You are not to go around slandering your people.
“You are not to stand idle[d] when your neighbor’s life is at stake.[e] I am the Lord.
17 “You are not to hate your relative in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor if you must, but you are not to incur guilt on account of him.
18 “You are not to seek vengeance or hold a grudge against the descendants of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
On Preserving Distinctiveness
19 “Observe my statutes.
“You are not to let your cattle breed with a different species.[f]
“You are not to sow your fields with two different kinds of seeds.[g]
“You are not to wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.
20 “When a person has sexual relations[h] with a woman servant who is engaged to another man, but she has not been completely redeemed nor has her freedom been granted to her, there is to be an inquiry, but they won’t be put to death, since she has not been freed. 21 The perpetrator[i] is to bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting—that is, a ram as a guilt offering. 22 Then the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram as a guilt offering in the Lord’s presence on account of his sin which he has committed, but which will be forgiven him.”
Restrictions on Initial Harvests
23 “When you have entered the land and planted all sorts of trees for food, regard its fruit as uncircumcised for the first three years for you. It is not to be eaten. 24 During the fourth year, all its fruit is to be offered as a holy token of praise to the Lord. 25 But on the fifth year, you may eat its fruits to increase its produce for you.”
Prohibited Practices
26 “You are not to eat anything containing blood, engage in occult practices,[j] or practice fortune telling.[k]
27 “You are not to cut your hair in ritualistic patterns[l] on your head or deface the edges of your beard.
28 “You are not to make incisions in your flesh on account of the dead nor submit to cuts or tattoos. I am the Lord.
29 “You are not to defile your daughter by engaging her in prostitution so the land won’t become filled with wickedness.
30 “Observe my Sabbath and stand in awe of my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31 “You are to consult neither mediums nor familiar spirits. You are never to seek them—you’ll just be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
32 “Rise in the presence of the aged[m] and honor the elderly face-to-face.
“Fear your God. I am the Lord.
33 “If a resident alien lives with you in your land, you are not to mistreat him. 34 You are to treat the resident alien the same way you treat the native born among you—love him like yourself, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
35 “You are not to act unjustly in deciding a case[n] or when measuring weight and quantity. 36 You are to maintain just balances and reliable standards for weights, dry volumes, and liquid volumes.[o] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 Observe all my statutes and all my ordinances in order to practice them. I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 19:8 Lit. soul
- Leviticus 19:8 The Heb. lacks from contact with his people
- Leviticus 19:13 The Heb. lacks him
- Leviticus 19:16 The Heb. lacks idle
- Leviticus 19:16 Lit. stand on the blood of your neighbor
- Leviticus 19:19 Lit. breed within two kinds
- Leviticus 19:19 The Heb. lacks of seeds
- Leviticus 19:20 Lit. a lying of seed
- Leviticus 19:21 Lit. He
- Leviticus 19:26 I.e. divination
- Leviticus 19:26 Or practice witchcraft
- Leviticus 19:27 Lit. cut the sides of your hair; i.e. as a sign of affiliation
- Leviticus 19:32 Lit. of the grey head
- Leviticus 19:35 Lit. in judgment
- Leviticus 19:36 Lit. and honest weight, ephah, and hin
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
