Beginning
Other Laws
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell all the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must be holy because I am holy.
3 “‘Each person among you must respect his mother and father. And you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
4 “‘Do not worship idols. Do not make statues of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
5 “‘You may sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord. If you do, you must offer it so you will be accepted. 6 You may eat it the same day you offer it. And you may also eat it on the next day. But if any is left on the third day, you must burn it up. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is unclean. It will not be accepted. 8 Anyone who eats it then will be guilty of sin. This is because he did not respect the holy things that belong to the Lord. He must be separated from his people.
9 “‘You harvest your crops on your land. But do not harvest all the way to the corners of your fields. If grain falls onto the ground, don’t gather it up. 10 Don’t pick all the grapes in your vineyards. And don’t pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. You must leave those things for poor people. You must also leave them for people traveling through your country. I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘You must not steal. You must not cheat people. You must not lie to each other. 12 You must not make a false promise by my name. If you do that, you will show that you don’t respect your God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘You must not cheat your neighbor. You must not rob him. You must not keep a hired worker’s salary all night until morning. 14 You must not curse a deaf man. And you must not put something in front of a blind person to make him fall. But you must respect your God. I am the Lord.
15 “‘Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favor to poor people or great people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor. 16 You must not spread false stories against other people. You must not do anything that would put your neighbor’s life in danger. I am the Lord.
17 “‘You must not hate your brother in your heart. If your neighbor does something wrong, tell him about it. If you do not, you will be partly to blame. 18 Forget about the wrong things people do to you. You must not try to get even. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.
19 “‘Obey my laws. You must not mate two different kinds of cattle. You must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed. You must not wear clothing made from two different kinds of material mixed together.
20 “‘A man might have physical relations with a slave girl of another man. But this slave girl has not been bought or given her freedom. If this happens, there must be punishment. But they are not to be put to death. This is because the woman was not free. 21 The man must bring a male sheep as his penalty offering. He must bring it to the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 22 The priest will offer the male sheep as a penalty offering before the Lord. It will be for the man’s sin. The priest will perform the acts to remove the sins of the man so he will belong to the Lord. Then the man will be forgiven for his sin.
23 “‘In the future you will enter your country. You will plant many kinds of trees for food. After planting a tree, wait three years before using its fruit. 24 In the fourth year the fruit from the tree will be the Lord’s. It will be a holy offering of praise to him. 25 Then in the fifth year, you may eat the fruit from the tree. The tree will then produce more fruit for you. I am the Lord your God.
26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood in it.
“‘You must not try to tell the future by signs or black magic.
27 “‘You must not cut the hair on the sides of your heads. And you must not cut the edges of your beard. 28 You must not cut your body to show sadness for someone who died. Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
29 “‘You must not make your daughter become a prostitute. That only shows you do not respect her. If you do this, the country will be filled with all kinds of sin.
30 “‘Obey the laws about Sabbaths. You must respect my Most Holy Place. I am the Lord.
31 “‘Do not go to mediums or fortune-tellers for advice. If you do, you will become unclean. I am the Lord your God.
32 “‘Show respect to old people. Stand up when they come into the room. Show respect also to your God. I am the Lord.
33 “‘Do not mistreat foreigners living in your country. 34 Treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time. That was in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
35 “‘Be fair when you judge people. And be fair when you measure and weigh things. 36 Your weighing baskets should be the right size. And your jars should hold the right amount of liquid. Your weights and balances should weigh correctly. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 “‘Remember all my laws and rules, and obey them. I am the Lord.’”
Warnings About Various Sins
20 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “You must also tell the people of Israel these things: ‘A person in your country might give one of his children to Molech. That person must be killed. It doesn’t matter if he is a citizen or a foreigner living in Israel. You must throw stones at him and kill him. 3 I will be against him. I will separate him from his people. This is because he gave his children to Molech. He showed that he did not respect my holy name. And he made my Holy Place unclean. 4 The people of the community might ignore that person. They might not kill the one who gave his children to Molech. 5 But I will be against him and his family. I will separate him from his people. I will do this to anyone who is unfaithful to me and who worships Molech.
6 “‘I will be against anyone who goes to mediums and fortune-tellers for advice. He is being unfaithful to me. So I will separate him from his people.
7 “‘Be my holy people. Be holy because I am holy. I am the Lord your God. 8 Remember and obey my laws. I am the Lord, and I have made you holy.
9 “‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother. So he must be punished.
Punishments for Sexual Sins
10 “‘A man might have physical relations with his neighbor’s wife. If he does, both the man and the woman are guilty of adultery. So they must be put to death. 11 A man might have physical relations with his father’s wife. If he does, both the man and his father’s wife must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves. That man has shamed his father.
12 “‘A man might have physical relations with his daughter-in-law. If he does, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is not natural. It must be punished.
13 “‘A man might have physical relations with another man as a man does with a woman. If he does, these two men have done a hated sin. They must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves.
14 “‘A man might have physical relations with both a woman and her mother. This is evil. The people must burn that man and the two women in fire. Do this so that your people will not be evil.
15 “‘A man might have unnatural physical relations with an animal. If he does, he must be put to death. And you must also kill the animal. 16 A woman might have unnatural physical relations with an animal. If she does, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They have brought it on themselves.
17 “‘It is shameful for a brother to marry his sister and to have physical relations with her. In front of everyone they must both be separated from their people. The man has shamed his sister. And he is guilty of sin.
18 “‘If a man has physical relations with a woman during her monthly period, both the woman and the man must be separated from their people. They sinned because they showed the source of her blood.
19 “‘Do not have physical relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister. That would shame a close relative. Both of you are guilty of this sin.
20 “‘A man must not have physical relations with his uncle’s wife. That would shame his uncle. That man and his uncle’s wife would die without children. They are guilty of sin.
21 “‘It is unclean for a man to marry his brother’s wife. That man has shamed his brother. They would have no children.
22 “‘Remember all my laws and rules, and obey them. I am leading you to your own land. If you obey my laws and rules, that land will not throw you out. 23 I am forcing the people who live there out of that country ahead of you. Because they did all these sins I have hated them. Do not live the way those people lived.
24 “‘I have told you that you will get their land. I will give it to you as your very own. It is a land where much food grows. I am the Lord your God. I have set you apart from other people and made you my own. 25 So you must treat clean animals and birds differently from unclean animals. Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these unclean birds or animals or things that crawl on the ground. I have made them unclean for you. 26 I have set you apart from other people. So you must be holy to me. This is because I am the Lord, and I am holy.
27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium or a fortune-teller must be put to death. You must kill them with stones. They have brought it on themselves.’”
How Priests Must Behave
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: ‘A priest must not make himself unclean by touching a dead person. 2 But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he may touch him. The priest may make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, son or daughter, brother or 3 unmarried sister. This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies. 4 But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only related to him by marriage.
5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads. They must not shave off the edges of their beards. They must not cut their bodies. 6 Priests must be holy to their God. They must show respect for God’s name. This is because they present the offerings made by fire to the Lord. This is the food of their God. So they must be holy.
7 “‘A priest serves God in a special way. So he must not marry an unclean prostitute or a divorced woman. 8 Treat the priest in a special way. Think of him as holy. This is because he offers up the food of your God. I am the Lord. I make you holy. And I am holy.
9 “‘If a priest’s daughter makes herself unclean by becoming a prostitute, she shames her father. She must be burned with fire.
10 “‘The high priest was chosen from among his brothers. The special olive oil used in appointing people and things to the service of the Lord was poured on his head. He was appointed to wear the priestly clothes. So he must not do things to show his sadness in public. He must not let his hair go uncombed. He must not tear his clothes. 11 He must not go into a house where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even if it is his own father or mother. 12 The high priest must not go out of the Holy Place. If he does and becomes unclean, he would make God’s Holy Place unclean. The special oil used in appointing priests was poured on the high priest’s head. This separated him from the rest of the people. I am the Lord.
13 “‘The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin. 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman or a prostitute. He must marry a virgin from his own people. 15 This is so the people will respect his children as his own. I am the Lord. I have set the high priest apart for his special job.’”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Tell Aaron: ‘Some of your descendants might have something wrong with them. If they do, they must never offer the special food of their God. 18 Anyone who has something wrong with him must not serve as priest. And he must not bring sacrifices to me. These people cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with damaged faces, deformed men, 19 men with a crippled foot or hand, 20 hunchbacks, dwarfs, men who have something wrong with their eyes, men who have an itching disease or a skin disease or men who have damaged sex glands.
21 “‘One of Aaron’s descendants might have something wrong with him. If he does, he cannot make the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has something wrong with him. He cannot offer the food of his God. 22 But he is from the family of priests. So he may eat the most holy food. He may also eat the holy food. 23 But he may not go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. He may not go near the altar. He has something wrong with him. He must not make my Holy Place unfit. I am the Lord. I make these things holy.’”
24 So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons and all the people of Israel.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.