Leviticus 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ritual and Moral Holiness
19 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “Speak to all the congregation of the Israelites and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.(A) 3 You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.(B) 4 Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.(C)
5 “When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. 6 It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day, and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. 8 All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord, and any such person shall be cut off from the people.
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(D) 10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.
11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.(E) 12 And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.(F)
13 “You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.(G) 14 You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.(H)
15 “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.(I) 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand idly by when the blood[a] of your neighbor is at stake: I am the Lord.(J)
17 “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.(K) 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.(L)
19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.(M)
20 “If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed, 21 but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as guilt offering.(N) 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he committed, and the sin he committed shall be forgiven him.
23 “When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden;[b] three years it shall be forbidden[c] to you; it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all their fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord.(O) 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for you: I am the Lord your God.
26 “You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.(P) 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.(Q) 28 You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.(R)
29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, that the land not become prostituted and full of depravity.(S) 30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary: I am the Lord.(T)
31 “Do not turn to mediums and spiritualists; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.(U)
32 “You shall rise before the aged and defer to the old, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
33 “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.(V) 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.(W)
35 “You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. 36 You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and observe them: I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19
Common English Bible
Living as holy people
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must keep my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves; I am the Lord your God. 5 When you sacrifice a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it so that it will be accepted on your account. 6 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. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is foul; it will not be accepted. 8 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. 9 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
- Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
- Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
- Leviticus 19:17 Or strongly, but don’t become liable for punishment because of it; Heb uncertain
- Leviticus 19:20 Or an inquiry
- Leviticus 19:23 Or treat its fruit as a foreskin
- Leviticus 19:23 Or uncircumcised to you
- Leviticus 19:28 Or for the living
- Leviticus 19:28 Or tattoo; Heb uncertain
- Leviticus 19:29 Or making her a prostitute so that the land won’t become a prostitute
- Leviticus 19:36 Approximately twenty quarts
- Leviticus 19:36 Approximately one gallon of liquid
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible