Add parallel Print Page Options

Yahweh Is Holy

19 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. Every one of you (B)shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep (C)My sabbaths; (D)I am Yahweh your God. Do not turn to (E)idols or make for yourselves molten (F)gods; I am Yahweh your God.

‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. And everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Statutes

(G)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the afflicted and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.

11 (H)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, (I)nor lie to one another. 12 (J)And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to (K)profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

13 (L)You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. (M)The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning. 14 You shall not curse a deaf man nor (N)place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

15 (O)You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. 16 You shall not go about as (P)a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the [a](Q)life of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.

17 ‘You (R)shall not hate your brother in your heart; you (S)may surely reprove your neighbor, and so not bear sin because of him. 18 (T)You shall not take vengeance, (U)and you shall not keep your anger against the sons of your people, but (V)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.

19 ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; (W)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

20 (X)Now if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, (Y)a ram for a guilt offering. 22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

23 ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as [b]forbidden. Three years it shall be [c]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh. 25 Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.

26 ‘You shall not eat anything (Z)with the blood nor interpret (AA)omens or soothsaying. 27 (AB)You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. 28 And you shall not make any cuts in your [d]body for the [e]dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am Yahweh.

29 (AC)Do not [f]profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. 30 You shall (AD)keep My sabbaths and (AE)fear My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

31 ‘Do not turn to [g](AF)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

32 (AG)You shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the [h]aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

33 (AH)And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and (AI)you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

35 (AJ)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume. 36 You shall have [i](AK)just balances, [j]just weights, a [k]just [l]ephah, and a [m]just [n]hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Lit blood
  2. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  3. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  4. Leviticus 19:28 Lit flesh
  5. Leviticus 19:28 Lit soul
  6. Leviticus 19:29 Or degrade
  7. Leviticus 19:31 Or ghosts or spirits
  8. Leviticus 19:32 Lit face of the aged
  9. Leviticus 19:36 Or righteous
  10. Leviticus 19:36 Or righteous
  11. Leviticus 19:36 Or righteous
  12. Leviticus 19:36 An ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
  13. Leviticus 19:36 Or righteous
  14. Leviticus 19:36 A hin was approx. 1 gal. or 3.8 l

Living as holy people

19 The Lord said to Moses, Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must keep my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves; I am the Lord your God. When you sacrifice a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it so that it will be accepted on your account. It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice or the following day; whatever is left over on the third day must be burned with fire. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is foul; it will not be accepted. Anyone who eats it will be liable to punishment, because they defiled what is holy to the Lord. That person will be cut off from their people. When you harvest your land’s produce, you must not harvest all the way to the edge of your field; and don’t gather up every remaining bit of your harvest. 10 Also do not pick your vineyard clean or gather up all the grapes that have fallen there. Leave these items for the poor and the immigrant; I am the Lord your God.

11 You must not steal nor deceive nor lie to each other. 12 You must not swear falsely by my name, desecrating your God’s name in doing so; I am the Lord. 13 You must not oppress your neighbors or rob them. Do not withhold a hired laborer’s pay overnight. 14 You must not insult a deaf person or put some obstacle in front of a blind person that would cause them to trip. Instead, fear your God; I am the Lord.

15 You must not act unjustly in a legal case. Do not show favoritism to the poor or deference to the great; you must judge your fellow Israelites fairly. 16 Do not go around slandering your people.[a] Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed;[b] I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your fellow Israelite strongly, so you don’t become responsible for his sin.[c] 18 You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

19 You must keep my rules. Do not crossbreed your livestock, do not plant your field with two kinds of seed, and do not wear clothes made from two kinds of material. 20 If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave engaged to another man, who hasn’t yet been released or given her freedom, there must be a punishment.[d] But they will not be put to death because she had not yet been freed. 21 The man must bring as his compensation to the Lord at the meeting tent’s entrance a ram for a compensation offering. 22 The priest will use the ram for the compensation offering to make reconciliation for him before the Lord on account of the sin he committed. Then he will be forgiven of the sin that he committed.

23 When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit off-limits.[e] For three years it will be off-limits to you;[f] it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year, all of the tree’s fruit will be holy, a celebration for the Lord. 25 In the fifth year you can eat the fruit. This is so as to increase its produce for you; I am the Lord your God.

26 You must not eat anything with its blood. You must not participate in divination or fortune-telling. 27 You must not cut off the hair on your forehead or clip the ends of your beard. 28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead[g] or put marks on[h] yourselves; I am the Lord. 29 Do not defile your daughter by making her sexually promiscuous or else the land will become promiscuous[i] and full of shame. 30 You must keep my sabbaths and treat my sanctuary with respect; I am the Lord. 31 Do not resort to dead spirits or inquire of spirits of divination—you will be made unclean by them; I am the Lord your God. 32 You must rise in the presence of an old person and respect the elderly. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.

33 When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. 34 Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. 35 You must not act unjustly in a legal case involving measures of length, weight, or volume. 36 You must have accurate scales and accurate weights, an accurate ephah[j] and an accurate hin.[k] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You must keep all my rules and all my regulations, and do them; I am the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
  2. Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
  3. Leviticus 19:17 Or strongly, but don’t become liable for punishment because of it; Heb uncertain
  4. Leviticus 19:20 Or an inquiry
  5. Leviticus 19:23 Or treat its fruit as a foreskin
  6. Leviticus 19:23 Or uncircumcised to you
  7. Leviticus 19:28 Or for the living
  8. Leviticus 19:28 Or tattoo; Heb uncertain
  9. Leviticus 19:29 Or making her a prostitute so that the land won’t become a prostitute
  10. Leviticus 19:36 Approximately twenty quarts
  11. Leviticus 19:36 Approximately one gallon of liquid