Leviticus 19-21
New American Standard Bible
Idolatry Forbidden
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “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. 3 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. 4 Do not turn to (E)idols or make for yourselves cast metal (F)gods; I am the Lord your God.
5 ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 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. 7 So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is unclean; it will not be accepted. 8 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
9 ‘(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.’”
On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities
20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:
‘Anyone from the sons of Israel or from the strangers residing in Israel (AL)who gives any of his [n]children to Molech, shall certainly be put to death; (AM)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his [o]children to Molech, (AN)so as to defile My sanctuary and (AO)to profane My holy name. 4 If the people of the land, however, [p]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his [q]children to Molech, so as not to put him to death, 5 then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech.
6 ‘As for the person who turns to [r](AP)mediums and to spiritists, to play the prostitute with them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and (AQ)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 So (AR)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
9 ‘(AS)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his [s]own death upon himself.
10 ‘(AT)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 (AU)If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their [t]own deaths upon themselves. 12 (AV)If there is a man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed [u]incest, and have brought their [v]own deaths upon themselves. 13 (AW)If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their [w]own deaths upon themselves. 14 (AX)If there is a man who [x]marries a woman and her mother, it is an outrageous sin; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no such outrageous sin in your midst. 15 (AY)If there is a man who has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. 16 If there is a woman who approaches any animal to [y]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they must be put to death. They have brought their [z]own deaths upon themselves.
17 ‘(AZ)If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. 18 (BA)If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 (BB)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his [aa]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20 (BC)If there is a man who sleeps with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21 (BD)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is [ab]detestable; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.
22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to [ac]live will not (BE)vomit you out. 23 Furthermore, you shall not [ad]follow (BF)the customs of the nation which I am going to drive out before you, because they did all these things; (BG)therefore I have felt disgust for them. 24 So I have said to you, “(BH)You are to take possession of their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has (BI)singled you out from the peoples. 25 (BJ)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make [ae]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything [af]that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean. 26 So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I (BK)have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.
27 ‘Now a man or a woman (BL)who is a medium or a spiritist [ag]must be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; they have brought their [ah]own deaths upon themselves.’”
Regulations concerning Priests
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
‘(BM)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 (BN)except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also for his virgin sister who is near to him [ai]because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself as a [aj]relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. 5 (BO)They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, (BP)nor shave off the edges of their beards, (BQ)nor make any cuts in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God and (BR)not profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire [ak]to the Lord, (BS)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 (BT)They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and [al]profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers (BU)the food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 (BV)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
10 ‘The priest who is [am]highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and [an]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, (BW)shall not [ao]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 (BX)nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12 (BY)nor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for (BZ)the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 (CA)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to [ap]marry a virgin of his own people, 15 so that he will not profane his [aq]children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your [ar]descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the (CB)food of his God. 18 (CC)For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a (CD)slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, 19 or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or (CE)crushed testicles. 21 No man among the [as]descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer (CF)the food of his God. 22 He may eat (CG)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23 only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 19:16 Lit stand on
- Leviticus 19:16 Lit blood
- Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
- Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
- Leviticus 19:27 Lit side
- Leviticus 19:28 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 19:28 Lit soul
- Leviticus 19:31 Or ghosts or spirits
- Leviticus 19:32 Lit the face of the old
- Leviticus 19:32 Or revere
- Leviticus 19:33 Lit oppress him
- Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a dry measure, about 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
- Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a liquid measure, about 1 gallon or 3.8 liters
- Leviticus 20:2 Lit seed
- Leviticus 20:3 Lit seed
- Leviticus 20:4 Lit hiding they hide their eyes from
- Leviticus 20:4 Lit seed
- Leviticus 20:6 Or ghosts and spirits
- Leviticus 20:9 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 20:11 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 20:12 Lit disgracefulness
- Leviticus 20:12 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 20:13 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 20:14 Lit takes
- Leviticus 20:16 Lit lie
- Leviticus 20:16 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 20:19 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 20:21 Or an abomination
- Leviticus 20:22 Lit dwell in it
- Leviticus 20:23 Lit walk in
- Leviticus 20:25 Lit your souls
- Leviticus 20:25 Lit with which the ground crawls
- Leviticus 20:27 Lit among them must
- Leviticus 20:27 Lit bloodguilt upon
- Leviticus 21:3 Or who has not belonged to a man
- Leviticus 21:4 Lit husband among
- Leviticus 21:6 Lit of
- Leviticus 21:7 I.e., deflowered
- Leviticus 21:10 I.e., the high priest
- Leviticus 21:10 Lit whose hand has been filled
- Leviticus 21:10 Lit unbind
- Leviticus 21:14 Lit take as wife
- Leviticus 21:15 Lit seed
- Leviticus 21:17 Lit seed
- Leviticus 21:21 Lit seed
Leviticus 19-21
New Living Translation
Holiness in Personal Conduct
19 The Lord also said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
3 “Each of you must show great respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the Lord your God.
4 “Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
5 “When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it properly so you[a] will be accepted by God. 6 The sacrifice must be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day. Whatever is left over until the third day must be completely burned up. 7 If any of the sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will be contaminated, and I will not accept it. 8 Anyone who eats it on the third day will be punished for defiling what is holy to the Lord and will be cut off from the community.
9 “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. 10 It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.
11 “Do not steal.
“Do not deceive or cheat one another.
12 “Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the Lord.
13 “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.
14 “Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
15 “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.
16 “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.[b]
“Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.
17 “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.[c] Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.
18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
19 “You must obey all my decrees.
“Do not mate two different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two different kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven from two different kinds of thread.
20 “If a man has sex with a slave girl whose freedom has never been purchased but who is committed to become another man’s wife, he must pay full compensation to her master. But since she is not a free woman, neither the man nor the woman will be put to death. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram as a guilt offering and present it to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.[d] 22 The priest will then purify him[e] before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering, and the man’s sin will be forgiven.
23 “When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden.[f] Do not eat it. 24 In the fourth year the entire crop must be consecrated to the Lord as a celebration of praise. 25 Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you follow this pattern, your harvest will increase. I am the Lord your God.
26 “Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood.
“Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft.
27 “Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards.
28 “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.
29 “Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.
30 “Keep my Sabbath days of rest, and show reverence toward my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31 “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.
32 “Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord.
33 “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. 34 Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
35 “Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. 36 Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate.[g] I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 “You must be careful to keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice. I am the Lord.”
Punishments for Disobedience
20 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the people of Israel these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living in Israel.
“If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death. 3 I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech. 4 And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them, 5 I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.
6 “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community. 7 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy.
9 “Anyone who dishonors[h] father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense.
10 “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.
11 “If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father’s wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
12 “If a man has sex with his daughter-in-law, both must be put to death. They have committed a perverse act and are guilty of a capital offense.
13 “If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
14 “If a man marries both a woman and her mother, he has committed a wicked act. The man and both women must be burned to death to wipe out such wickedness from among you.
15 “If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death, and the animal must be killed.
16 “If a woman presents herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it, she and the animal must both be put to death. You must kill both, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
17 “If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a shameful disgrace. They must be publicly cut off from the community. Since the man has violated his sister, he will be punished for his sin.
18 “If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them must be cut off from the community, for together they have exposed the source of her blood flow.
19 “Do not have sexual relations with your aunt, whether your mother’s sister or your father’s sister. This would dishonor a close relative. Both parties are guilty and will be punished for their sin.
20 “If a man has sex with his uncle’s wife, he has violated his uncle. Both the man and woman will be punished for their sin, and they will die childless.
21 “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has violated his brother, and the guilty couple will remain childless.
22 “You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out. 23 Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them. 24 But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people.
25 “You must therefore make a distinction between ceremonially clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. You must not defile yourselves by eating any unclean animal or bird or creature that scurries along the ground. I have identified them as being unclean for you. 26 You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.
27 “Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense.”
Instructions for the Priests
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
“A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. 2 The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, 3 or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband. 4 But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.
5 “The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. 6 They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the Lord, gifts of food for their God.
7 “Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God. 8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the Lord, am holy, and I make you holy.
9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.
10 “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed[i] or tear his clothing. 11 He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother. 12 He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.
13 “The high priest may marry only a virgin. 14 He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan, 15 so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the Lord who makes him holy.”
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, 17 “Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God. 18 No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, 19 or has a broken foot or arm, 20 or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the Lord. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. 22 However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. 23 Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the Lord who makes them holy.”
24 So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Footnotes
- 19:5 Or it.
- 19:16 Hebrew Do not act as a merchant toward your own people.
- 19:17 Hebrew for your brother.
- 19:21 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.
- 19:22 Or make atonement for him.
- 19:23 Hebrew consider it uncircumcised.
- 19:36 Hebrew Use an honest ephah [a dry measure] and an honest hin [a liquid measure].
- 20:9 Greek version reads Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of. Compare Matt 15:4; Mark 7:10.
- 21:10 Or never uncover his head.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
