Chronological

Refrain from Cutting Yourselves

14 “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your foreheads on account of the dead, ² because you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose to make you his precious possession from among all the nations^[a] of the earth.”

Refrain from Unclean Food

³ “You must not eat any detestable food. ⁴ These are the animals that you may eat: ox, sheep, goat, ⁵ deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. ⁶ You may eat every animal with a divided hoof—those with split cloven hooves—that chews the cud. ⁷ However, you must not eat these animals that chew the cud or have a divided hoof: the camel, hare, and rock badger. Even though they chew the cud, their hooves are not divided. Therefore, they are unclean for you. ⁸ And also the pig, because even though its hoof is divided, it does not chew the cud. It is therefore unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.

⁹ “You may choose to eat from these creatures in the water: you may eat anything with fin and scale, ¹⁰ but you may not eat anything without fin and scale, since it is unclean to you.

¹¹ “You may eat all clean birds, ¹² but you must not eat any of these: the eagle, vulture, osprey, ¹³ buzzard, any kind of kite, ¹⁴ any kind of raven, ¹⁵ the ostrich, night hawk, seagull, any kind of falcon, ¹⁶ the little owl, great owl, horned owl, ¹⁷ pelican, carrion vulture, cormorant, ¹⁸ stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. ¹⁹ Any winged, swarming insect is unclean to you—they are not to be eaten. ²⁰ You may eat every bird that is clean.

²¹ “You must not eat any carcass,^[b] but you may give it to the alien in your cities^[c] so he may either consume it or sell it to a foreigner, since you are a people that is holy to the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Remember to Tithe

²² “Be sure to tithe annually from everything you plant that yields a harvest in the field. ²³ Then in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place where he’ll choose to establish his name, you may consume the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your livestock and flock, so that you’ll learn to revere the Lord your God all your life. ²⁴ Now the way may be distant from you, so that you are unable to transport your tithe because you have been blessed by the Lord your God and the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish his name may be distant from you. ²⁵ In that case, convert it into cash, secure the money,^[d] and then bring it to the place where the Lord will choose. ²⁶ You may spend the money to your heart’s content to buy livestock, flocks, wine, strong drink, and whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there and rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God.”

The Levitical Tithe

²⁷ “But you must not forget the descendant of Levi in your town,^[e] because there is no tribal allotment^[f] for him as there is for you. ²⁸ Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store them in your cities ²⁹ so the descendants of Levi—who have no tribal allotment as you do—foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come, eat, and be satisfied. That way, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.”^[g]

The Lord’s Remission

15 “You must cancel your debts at the end of every seventh year. ² This is the way to conduct remission: every creditor must cancel the loan that his friend borrowed, and he must not pressure his friend or brother to repay it,^[h] because remission to the Lord will be proclaimed. ³ You may exact payment from a foreigner, but cancel whatever your brother owes you. ⁴ Moreover, there will be no poor person among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he^[i] is about to give you to possess. ⁵ Only be certain to obey the voice of the Lord your God. Carefully observe all of these commands that I’m commanding you today, ⁶ because the Lord your God will bless you just as he promised. You are to lend to many nations, but not to borrow. Also, you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.”

Care for the Poor

⁷ “If there should be a poor man among your relatives^[j] in one of the cities of the land that the Lord your God is about to give you, don’t be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative.^{[k] 8} Instead, be sure to open your hand to him and lend him enough to lessen his need. ⁹ Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near…’ and you show ill will^[l] toward your poor relative^[m] and not give to him. He may then call to the Lord on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ You must certainly give to him and not feel regret for doing so.^[n] Because of this, the Lord your God will bless all your works and everything you do. ¹¹ Since poor people won’t cease to exist in the land, I’m commanding you: Be sure to display generosity^[o] to your poor and needy relatives in your land.”

Releasing Slaves

¹² “When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them^[p] free. ¹³ But when you set them free, don’t send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the Lord your God has blessed you, so give to them. ¹⁵ Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore, I’m giving you these commands today.

¹⁶ “If that slave^[q] should say to you, ‘I won’t leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, and it was good for him to be with you, ¹⁷ then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. He then will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves. ¹⁸ Don’t view this as a hardship for yourself when you set him free, for he will have served you for six years—twice the time of a paid worker. Then the Lord will bless you in all that you do.”

Offering the Firstborn Male Animals

¹⁹ “Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male among your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your ox to work or shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ Instead, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your household are to eat them every year at the place the Lord will choose. ²¹ If it has a blemish—lameness, blindness, or any kind of defect—you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² In your cities,^[r] both the unclean and the clean together are to eat it together,^[s] as the gazelle and the deer, ²³ but you are not to eat its blood. Pour it on the ground like water.”

Celebrate the Passover

16 “Observe the month of Abib, keeping the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt during the night in the month of Abib. ² Then sacrifice sheep and cattle for the Passover to the Lord your God at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish his name. ³ You must not eat any yeast with it. Instead, for seven days eat bread without yeast—the bread of affliction—because you left the land of Egypt in haste. Remember the day you went out of the land of Egypt for the rest of your lives. ⁴ Yeast is not to be seen in any of your territories for seven days. The meat is not to remain from the evening of the first day until morning.

⁵ “You must not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your cities^[t] that the Lord your God is about to give you. ⁶ Instead, you are to sacrifice the Passover in the evening at dusk—at the time of day you left Egypt—at the place where your God will choose to establish his name. ⁷ Boil and eat the Passover meal^[u] at the place that the Lord your God will choose. In the morning you may go back to your tents. ⁸ Eat bread without yeast for six days. Then on the seventh day, hold an assembly to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work.”

Celebrate the Festival of Weeks

⁹ “Count off seven weeks from when the sickle is first put to standing grain. ¹⁰ Then observe the Festival of Weeks in the presence of the Lord your God by giving your tribute and the freewill offering of your hands in proportion to the manner in which the Lord your God blessed you. ¹¹ Rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God with your son, daughter, male and female slaves, the descendant of Levi who is in your city,^[v] the stranger, the orphan, and the widow among you, at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish his name. ¹² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, so keep and observe these statutes.”

Celebrate the Festival of Tents

¹³ “Celebrate the Festival of Tents^[w] for seven days after you harvest from your threshing floor and your wine press. ¹⁴ Rejoice in your festival—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the descendants of Levi, and foreigners, orphans, and widows, who live in your cities.^{[x] 15} For seven days you are to celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in everything you do, and your joy will be complete.

¹⁶ “Every male must appear in the presence of the Lord your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents.^[y] He must not appear in the Lord’s presence empty-handed, ¹⁷ but each one must appear^[z] with his own gift, proportional to the blessing that the Lord your God has given you.”

Pursue Justice

¹⁸ “Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities^[aa] that the Lord your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.^{[ab] 19} You must not twist justice, show favoritism, or take bribes, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the speech of the righteous. ²⁰ You are to pursue justice—and only justice—so you may live and possess the land that the Lord your God is about to give you.”

Prohibited Practices

²¹ “You are not to set up a sacred pole^[ac] beside the altar of the Lord your God that you will build. ²² Furthermore, you are not to erect for yourselves a sacred stone pillar, because the Lord your God detests these things.