Beginning
Chapter 19
Behavior Pleasing to the Lord.1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel and say: Be holy, for I am holy. I am the Lord, your God. 3 Every man shall honor his father and his mother, and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord, your God.
4 “Do not worship idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord, your God. 5 When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, you shall do it so that it will be acceptable. 6 You shall eat it either on the same day or on the next day. Whatever is left over until the third day should be burned in fire. 7 If you were to eat it on the third day, it would be an abomination. It would not be accepted. 8 Therefore, everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he shall have profaned something holy to the Lord. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
9 [a]“When you gather the harvest of your land, do not reap the corners of your field nor gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather all the grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord, your God.
11 “You are not to steal, nor should you deceive nor lie to one another. 12 Nor shall you swear a false oath by my name, nor shall you profane my name. I am your God, the Lord.
13 “You shall not defraud your neighbor, nor shall you rob him. You shall not keep the wages of the person you have hired all night, until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor shall you put a stumbling block before the blind, for you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 “You shall not commit any injustice in judging the poor, nor shall you show partiality to the mighty. You shall judge your neighbor with righteousness. 16 You are not to spread slander among your people, nor shall you act against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, nor shall you rebuke your brother in any way, lest you bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not seek vengeance nor bear a grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.[b] I am the Lord.
19 “Obey my ordinances. Do not keep one type of cattle with another. Do not sow a field with seed that is mixed. Do not wear clothes made both of wool and linen.
20 “If a man has sex with a slave girl who is betrothed and belongs to another man, and she has not been redeemed nor has she been given her freedom, she shall be scourged, but they shall not be put to death for she was not free. 21 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as a guilt offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, for the sin he has committed, with the ram of the guilt offering. He shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.
23 “When you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees, you shall leave its fruit unharvested[c] for three years. It is not to be eaten. 24 But the fourth year all of its fruit will be holy, a praise offering to the Lord. 25 In the fifth year you can eat its fruit. Thus, it will yield more richly for you. I am the Lord, your God.
26 “You must not eat anything with blood in it. You must not practice magic or cast spells. 27 [d]You must not trim the hair on the side of your head, nor must you clip the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not slash your skin to mourn the dead, nor shall you have any tattoos. I am the Lord.
29 “Do not prostitute your daughter, forcing her to commit fornication, lest the land become adulterous and the land be full of lewdness. 30 You will observe my Sabbaths and respect my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31 “Do not consult mediums or seek after wizards, to be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God.
32 “You will stand up in the presence of those with gray hair, and honor the presence of those who are old, and you will fear your God. I am the Lord.
33 “If an alien dwells in your land, you will not harass him. 34 You will treat the alien who dwells among you just as you would the person who was born among you. You shall love him as yourself, for you were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.
35 “You shall not cheat in measuring lengths or weights or volumes. 36 You will use honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.[e] I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 Therefore, you will observe all of my statutes and my decrees, and follow them. I am the Lord.”
Chapter 20[f]
Consequences of Forbidden Behavior. 1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say again to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever among you sacrifices his child to Molech, whether he be of the children of Israel or of the aliens dwelling in your land, must be put to death. The people of the land will stone him.[g] 3 I will set my face against that man, and cut him off from among his people, for he has sacrificed his child to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. 4 If the people of the land ignore the fact that a man has sacrificed his child to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his people, and I will cut him off, and I will cut off from their people all who go whoring after him, all those who whore after Molech.
6 “ ‘I will turn my face against that person who consults mediums and wizards, and I will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord, your God. 8 You shall observe my statutes and obey them. I am the Lord who consecrates you.
9 “ ‘Everyone who curses his father or his mother must be put to death. He who curses his father or his mother[h] is guilty of his blood. 10 When a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 The man who sleeps with his father’s wife has uncovered the nakedness of his father. They must be put to death; their blood is upon their own heads. 12 If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done something perverse and their blood is upon their own heads. 13 If a man has sex with another man, like one would have sex with a woman, both of them must be put to death. Their blood is upon their own heads. 14 It is lewd for a man to marry a woman and her mother. Both he and they are to be burned with fire so that there might not be any lewdness among you. 15 If a man has sex with an animal, he must die. You shall also slay the animal. 16 If a woman approaches an animal to have sex with it, you shall kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death, for their blood is upon their own heads. 17 If a man marries his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is shameful. They shall be cut off from their people, for he uncovered his sister’s nakedness and he shall bear his guilt.[i]
18 “ ‘If a man has sex with a woman during her menstrual time, they shall have uncovered her flow of blood, and they shall both be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for someone who uncovers a close relation shall bear his guilt. 20 A man shall not have sex with his uncle’s wife, for he shall have laid bare his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their guilt and die childless. 21 It is unclean for a man to marry his brother’s wife for he shall have uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
22 “ ‘You shall therefore observe all of my statutes and ordinances and obey them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to dwell in will not vomit you out. 23 You shall not follow the ways of the nations that I cast out before you for having done all these things that I abhorred. 24 But I have said to you, “You will inherit their land. I will give it to you to be your own, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord, your God, who chose you from among all people.” 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, so that you shall not make yourselves detestable by any animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground that I indicated as being unclean. 26 You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy. I have chosen you from among all people that you shall be mine.
27 “ ‘A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard must be put to death. You will stone them with stones, for their blood is upon their heads.’ ”
Chapter 21
Regulations for Priests. 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall become unclean by touching a dead person[j] 2 except for a close relative, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his unmarried sister, who is near to him, for she has no husband. For these he can become unclean. 4 But he is not to become unclean for people related by marriage, becoming unclean for them.
5 “ ‘Priests must not shave their heads bald nor trim their beards nor shall they cut their flesh.[k] 6 They shall be holy to their God, and they are not to profane the name of their God, for they present offerings made by fire to the Lord, the food of their God. Therefore, they will be holy. 7 They are not to marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, nor are they to marry a woman who has been divorced by her husband, for he is holy to his God.[l] 8 You shall therefore consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He will be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.
9 “ ‘If the daughter of any priest defiles herself by playing the whore, thus defiling her father, then she is to be burned with fire.
10 “ ‘The priest who is the most important from among his brothers, upon whose head was poured the oil of anointing, and who was consecrated to wear the garments, he is not to uncover his head or rend his garments 11 nor shall he make himself unclean by touching any dead body, even that of his own father or mother. 12 He shall not leave the sanctuary nor desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the oil of anointing of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 13 He shall marry a woman who is a virgin. 14 He shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has defiled herself by fornication. Rather, he is to marry a virgin from his own people 15 so that he not profane his posterity among his people. I am the Lord, who sanctifies him.’ ”
16 Priestly Defects. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron saying: ‘Any of your descendants who has a defect is not to draw near to offer the bread of his God. 18 No one who has a defect shall approach, whether he be blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, 19 or if he has a crippled foot or hand, 20 or if he be hunchbacked or dwarfed, or if he has an eye defect, or a scab or sore or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall draw near to present offerings made by fire to the Lord. He who has a blemish shall not come to offer the bread of his God 22 for the bread of his God is most holy. He can eat what is holy, 23 but he shall not enter inside the veil[m] or approach the altar because of his defect, lest he defile the sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’ ”
24 Moses said this to Aaron and to his sons and to all of the children of Israel.
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