Leviticus 19

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them, ‘Be holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord your God.

“Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

“ ‘All of you must have respect for your mother and father. You must always keep my Sabbath days. I am the Lord your God.

Each of you shall ^[a]respect his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Do not turn away from me to worship statues of gods. Do not make for yourselves metal statues of gods. I am the Lord your God.

Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods (images cast in metal); I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Suppose you sacrifice a friendship offering to me. Then do it in the right way. And I will accept it from you.

‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

You must eat it on the same day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything left over until the third day must be burned up.

It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the day following; and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.

If you eat any of it on the third day, it is not pure. I will not accept it.

But if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is repulsive; it will not be accepted [by God as an offering].

Whoever eats it will be held responsible. They have misused what is holy to me. They will be separated from their people.

Everyone who eats it will bear [the responsibility for] his wickedness, for he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

Various Laws

“ ‘Suppose you are harvesting your crops. Then do not harvest all the way to the edges of your field. And do not pick up the grain you missed.

‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings (grain left after reaping) of your harvest.

Do not go over your vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for poor people and outsiders. I am the Lord your God.

And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather its fallen grapes; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Do not steal.

“ ‘Do not tell lies.

“ ‘Do not cheat one another.

‘You shall not steal, nor deal deceptively, nor lie to one another.

“ ‘Do not give your word in my name and then be a false witness. That would be treating the name of your God as if it were not holy. I am the Lord.

You shall not swear [an oath] falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not cheat your neighbor. Do not rob him.

“ ‘Do not hold back the pay of a hired worker until morning.

‘You shall not oppress or exploit your neighbor, nor rob him. You shall not withhold the wages of a hired man overnight until morning.

“ ‘Do not ask for bad things to happen to deaf people. Do not put anything in front of blind people that will make them trip. Instead, have respect for me. I am the Lord your God.

You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not make something wrong appear to be right. Treat poor people and rich people in the same way. Do not favor one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly.

‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor show a preference for the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

“ ‘Do not go around spreading lies among your people.

“ ‘Do not do anything that puts your neighbor’s life in danger. I am the Lord.

You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not hate another Israelite in your heart. Correct your neighbor boldly when they do something wrong. Then you will not share their guilt.

‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

“ ‘Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

You shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor (acquaintance, associate, companion) as yourself; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Obey my rules.

“ ‘Do not let different kinds of animals mate with each other.

“ ‘Do not mix two kinds of seeds and then plant them in your field.

“ ‘Do not wear clothes that are made out of two kinds of cloth.

‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear clothing of two kinds of material mixed together.

“ ‘Suppose a man sleeps with a female slave. But she and another man have promised to get married to each other. And her freedom has not yet been paid for or given to her. Then she and the man who slept with her must be punished. But they must not be put to death, because she had not been set free.

‘Now if a man has intimate relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for [marriage to] another man, but who has not been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment [after an investigation]; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free;

The man must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting. It is for a guilt offering to me.

but he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, a ram as a guilt offering.

The priest must take the ram for the guilt offering. He must sacrifice it to pay for the man’s sin in my sight. Then his sin will be forgiven.

The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed; and he shall be forgiven for his sin.

“ ‘When you enter the land, suppose you plant a fruit tree. Then do not eat its fruit for the first three years. The fruit is “unclean.”

‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall consider their fruit ^[b]forbidden. For three years the fruit shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

In the fourth year all the fruit will be holy. Offer it as a way of showing praise to me.

In the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.

But in the fifth year you can eat the fruit. Then you will gather more and more fruit. I am the Lord your God.

In the fifth year you may eat the fruit [of the trees], this is so that their yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Do not eat any meat that still has blood in it.

“ ‘Do not practice any kind of evil magic.

‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination [using omens or witchcraft] or soothsaying.

“ ‘Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head. Do not clip off the edges of your beard.

You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard.

“ ‘Do not make cuts on your bodies when someone dies. Do not put marks on your skin. I am the Lord.

You shall not make any cuts on your body [in mourning] for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not dishonor your daughter’s body by making a prostitute out of her. If you do, the Israelites will start going to prostitutes. The land will be filled with evil.

‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall to prostitution and become full of wickedness.

“ ‘You must always keep my Sabbath days. Have respect for my sacred tent. I am the Lord.

You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not look for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Do not go to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. If you do, they will make you “unclean.” I am the Lord your God.

‘Do not turn to mediums [who pretend to consult the dead] or to spiritists [who have spirits of divination]; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Stand up in order to show your respect for old people. Also have respect for me. I am the Lord your God.

‘You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.

“ ‘Suppose an outsider lives with you in your land. Then do not treat them badly.

‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress or mistreat him.

Treat them as if they were one of your own people. Love them as you love yourself. Remember that all of you were outsiders in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

“ ‘Be honest when you measure lengths, weights or amounts.

‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight or quantity.

Use honest scales and honest weights. Use honest dry measures. And use honest liquid measures. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt.

You shall have just and accurate balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just ^[c]hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

“ ‘Obey all my rules and laws. Follow them. I am the Lord.’ ”

You shall observe and keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.’”