Beginning
14 1 The manners of the Gentiles in marking themselves for the dead, may not be followed. 4 What meats are clean to be eaten, and what not. 29 The tithes for the Levites, stranger, fatherless, and widow.
1 Ye are the children of the Lord your God, (A)Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make you any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
2 (B)For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a [a]precious people unto himself, above all the people that are upon the earth.
3 ¶ Thou shalt eat no manner of abomination.
4 [b]These are the beasts, which ye shall eat, the beef, the sheep, and the goat,
5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the bugle, and the wild goat, and the unicorn, and the wild ox, and the Chamois.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and is of the beasts that cheweth the cud, that shall ye eat.
7 But these ye shall not eat, of them that chew the cud, and of them that divide and cleave the hoof only: the camel, nor the hare, nor the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, therefore they shall be unclean unto you:
8 Also the swine, because he divideth the hoof: and cheweth not the cud, shall be unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcasses.
9 ¶ (C)These ye shall eat, of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat.
10 And whatsoever hath no fins nor scales, ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you.
11 ¶ Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
12 But these are they whereof ye shall not eat: the eagle nor the goshawk, nor the osprey,
13 Nor the glede, nor the kite, nor the vulture, after their kind,
14 Nor all kind of ravens,
15 Nor the ostrich, nor the night crow, nor the [c]seamew, nor the hawk after her kind,
16 Neither the little owl, nor the great owl, nor the redshank,
17 Nor the pelican, nor the swan, nor the cormorant:
18 The stork also, and the heron in his kind, nor the lapwing, nor (D)the [bat].
19 And every creeping thing that flieth, shall be unclean unto you: it shall not be eaten.
20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21 Ye shall eat of nothing that [d]dieth alone, but thou shalt give it unto the [e]stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it: or thou mayest sell it unto a stranger: for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not (E)seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
22 Thou shalt [f]give the tithe of all the increase of thy seed, that cometh forth of the field year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God (in the place which he shall choose to cause his Name to dwell there) the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstborn of thy kine, and of thy sheep, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is far from thee, where the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name, [g]when the Lord thy God shall bless thee,
25 Then shalt thou make it in money, and [h]take the money in thine hand, and go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
26 And thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thine heart desireth: whether it be ox, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatsoever thine heart desireth: [i]and shalt eat it there before the Lord thy God, and rejoice, both thou, and thine household.
27 And the Levite that is within thy gates, shalt thou not forsake: for he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee.
28 At the end of three years thou shalt [j]bring forth all the tithes of thine increase of the same year, and lay it up within thy gates.
29 Then the Levite shall come, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, and shall eat, and be filled, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
15 1 The year of [releasing] of debts. 5 God blesseth them that keep his commandments. 7 To help the poor. 12 The freedom of servants. 19 The firstborn of the cattle must be offered to the Lord.
1 At the term of seven years thou shalt make a freedom,
2 And this is the manner of the freedom: every [k]creditor shall quit the loan of his hand which he hath lent to his neighbor: he shall not ask it again of his neighbor, nor of his brother: for the year of the Lord’s freedom is proclaimed.
3 Of a stranger thou mayest require it: but that which thou hast with thy brother, thine hand shall remit:
4 [l]Save when there shall be no poor with thee: for the Lord shall bless thee in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for an inheritance to possess it.
5 So that thou hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all these commandments, which I command thee this day.
6 For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, as he hath promised thee: and (F)thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou thyself shalt not borrow, and thou shalt reign over many nations, and they shall not reign over thee.
7 ¶ If one of thy brethren with thee be poor [m]within any of thy gates in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 (G)But thou shalt open thine hand unto him, and shalt lend him sufficient for his need which he hath.
9 Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thine heart, to say, The seventh year, the year of freedom is at hand: therefore [n]it grieveth thee to look on thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought, and he cry unto the Lord against thee, so that sin be in thee:
10 Thou shalt give him, and [o]let it not grieve thine heart to give unto him: for because of this the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand to.
11 [p]Because there shall be ever some poor in the land, therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt [q]open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor in thy land.
12 ¶ (H)If thy brother an Hebrew sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, and serve thee six years, even in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee:
13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty,
14 But shalt [r]give him a liberal reward of thy sheep, and of thy corn, and of thy wine: thou shalt give him of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God delivered thee: therefore I command thee this thing today.
16 And if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, because he loveth thee and thine house, and because he is well with thee,
17 (I)Then shalt thou take an awl, and pierce his ear through against the door, and he shall be thy servant [s]forever: and unto thy maid servant thou shall do likewise.
18 Let it not grieve thee, when thou lettest him go out free from thee: for he hath served thee six years, which is the double worth of [t]an hired servant: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 ¶ (J)All the firstborn males that come of thy cattle, and of thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God. [u]Thou shalt do no work with thy firstborn bullock, nor shear thy firstborn sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year, in the place which the Lord shall choose, both thou, and thine household.
21 (K)But if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any evil fault, thou shalt not offer it unto the Lord thy God,
22 But shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean, and the clean shall eat it alike, [v]as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof, but pour it upon the ground as water.
16 1 Of Easter. 10 Whitsuntide, 13 And the feast of tabernacles. 18 What officers ought to be ordained. 21 Idolatry forbidden.
1 Thou shalt keep the month of [w]Abib, and thou shalt celebrate the Passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore [x]offer the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of sheep and bullocks (L)in the place where the Lord shall choose to cause his Name to dwell.
3 Thou (M)shalt eat no leavened bread with it: but seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of [y]tribulation: for thou camest out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest out of the land of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days long: neither shall there remain the night any of the flesh until the morning which thou offeredst the first day at even.
5 Thou mayest [z]not offer the Passover within any of the gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee:
6 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his Name, there thou shalt offer the [aa]Passover at even, about the going down of the sun, in the season that thou camest out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and shalt return on the morrow, and go unto thy tents.
8 Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
9 ¶ Seven weeks shalt thou [ab]number unto thee, and shalt begin to number the seven weeks, when thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn:
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God, [ac]even a free gift of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his Name there,
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: therefore thou shalt observe and do these ordinances.
13 ¶ Thou shalt [ad]observe the feast of the Tabernacles seven days, when thou hast gathered in thy corn, and thy wine.
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: when the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, thou shalt in any case be glad.
16 ¶ (N)Three times in the year shall all the males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of the unleavened bread, and in the feast of the weeks, and in the feast of the Tabernacle: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.
17 Every man shall give according to the gift of his [ae]hand, and according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee.
18 ¶ [af]Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy cities, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout the tribes: and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19 Wrest not thou the Law, nor respect any person, neither take reward: for the reward blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the just.
20 That which [ag]is just and right shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and possess the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
21 ¶ Thou shalt plant thee no grove of any trees near unto the Altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Thou shalt set thee up no [ah]pillar, which thing the Lord thy God hateth.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.