Idolatry Forbidden

19 Then the Lord 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 the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you (B)shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep (C)My Sabbaths; (D)I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to (E)idols or make for yourselves cast metal (F)gods; I am the Lord your God.

‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, and on 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 unclean; it will not be accepted. And everyone who eats it will bear the consequences for his guilt, because he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Laws

(G)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

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

13 (L)You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. (M)The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor (N)put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

15 (O)You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You shall not go about as (P)a slanderer among your people; and you are not to [a]jeopardize the [b](Q)life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

17 ‘You (R)shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you (S)may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. 18 (T)You shall not take vengeance, (U)nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but (V)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

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

20 (X)Now if a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for 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 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, (Y)a ram as a guilt offering. 22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

23 ‘Now when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as [c]forbidden. For three years it shall be [d]forbidden to you; it shall 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 shall eat its fruit, so that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

26 ‘You shall not eat any meat (Z)with the blood. You shall not practice (AA)divination nor soothsaying. 27 (AB)You shall not round off the [e]hairline of your heads, nor trim the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts in your [f]body for the [g]dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 (AC)Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and the land does not become full of outrageous sin. 30 You shall (AD)keep My Sabbaths and (AE)revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

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

32 (AG)You shall stand up in the presence of the grayheaded and honor [i]elders, and you shall [j]fear your God; I am the Lord.

33 (AH)When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not [k]do him wrong. 34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and (AI)you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

35 (AJ)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or volume. 36 You shall have (AK)accurate balances, accurate weights, an accurate [l]ephah, and an accurate [m]hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 So you shall keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them; I am the Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Lit stand on
  2. Leviticus 19:16 Lit blood
  3. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  4. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  5. Leviticus 19:27 Lit side
  6. Leviticus 19:28 Lit flesh
  7. Leviticus 19:28 Lit soul
  8. Leviticus 19:31 Or ghosts or spirits
  9. Leviticus 19:32 Lit the face of the old
  10. Leviticus 19:32 Or revere
  11. Leviticus 19:33 Lit oppress him
  12. Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a dry measure, about 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  13. Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a liquid measure, about 1 gallon or 3.8 liters

Laws of Holiness

19 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy(A) because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.(B)

“Each of you is to respect his mother and father.(C) You are to keep My Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. Do not turn to idols(D) or make cast images(E) of gods for yourselves;(F) I am Yahweh your God.

“When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 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) If any is eaten on the third day, it is a repulsive thing; it will not be accepted.(H) 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)

“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

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Lit not stand against
  2. Leviticus 19:17 Or your fellow Israelite
  3. Leviticus 19:20 Or compensation
  4. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  5. Leviticus 19:26 Or [anything] over its blood
  6. Leviticus 19:29 Lit profane
  7. Leviticus 19:31 Or spirits of the dead
  8. Leviticus 19:31 Or familiar spirits
  9. Leviticus 19:36 Lit honest ephah; an ephah is a dry measure of grain equivalent to about 23 quarts.
  10. Leviticus 19:36 Lit honest hin; a hin is a liquid measure of about 1 gallon.