Leviticus 19-21

New Life Version

Laws about Right Living

19 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ³ Every one of you must have respect for his mother and his father. And keep My Days of Rest. I am the Lord your God. ⁴ Do not turn to false gods or make gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

⁵ ‘When you give the Lord a peace gift, give it so you will be pleasing Him. ⁶ It will be eaten the same day you give it, and the next day. But what is left until the third day will be burned with fire. ⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is a sin. It will not be received. ⁸ Every one who eats it will carry his guilt. For he has made the holy thing of the Lord sinful. That person will not be among God’s people.

⁹ ‘When you pick the food of your land at gathering time, do not pick all the way to the corners of your field. And do not gather the food left on the ground there after you have picked. ¹⁰ Do not gather what is left among your vines, or gather the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for those in need and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ ‘Do not steal. Be honest in what you do. Do not lie to one another. ¹² Do not lie when you make a promise in My name, and so put the name of your God to shame. I am the Lord.

¹³ ‘Do not make it hard for your neighbor or rob him. You should not keep the pay of a man who works for you until the next morning. ¹⁴ Do not say bad things against a man who cannot hear. Do not put something in the way of a man who cannot see. But fear your God. I am the Lord.

¹⁵ ‘Be fair in how you judge. Do not show favor to the poor or to the great. Be fair in how you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶ Do not go around saying things that hurt your people. Do not do things against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ ‘In your heart do not hate someone from your own country. You may speak sharp words to your neighbor, but do not sin because of him. ¹⁸ Do not hurt someone who has hurt you. Do not keep on hating the sons of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

¹⁹ ‘Keep My Laws. Do not let your cattle have young by a different kind. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing made of two kinds of cloth. ²⁰ If a man lies with a woman who is a servant, promised to another man, but has not been paid for or made free, they must be punished. But they will not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹ He will bring his guilt gift to the Lord at the door of the meeting tent. A ram will be used for the guilt gift before the Lord. ²² With it the religious leader will go through the worship of washing to take away the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven for the sin he has done.

²³ ‘When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, think of their fruit as being something you should not touch. You should not touch it for three years. It must not be eaten. ²⁴ But in the fourth year all their fruit will be holy, a gift of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ In the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, so they may give more food for you. I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ ‘Do not eat anything with the blood in it. Do not tell the future or do witchcraft. ²⁷ Do not cut the hair on the side of your head or face. ²⁸ Do not make any cuts on your body for the dead. Do not burn any pictures that will stay on your body. I am the Lord.

²⁹ ‘Do not put your daughter to shame by making her sell the use of her body. Or the land will become full of shame and sin. ³⁰ Keep My Days of Rest and honor My holy place. I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Do not ask what you should do from those who speak with bad spirits or talk to the dead. Do not find them or you will be unclean. I am the Lord your God.

³² ‘Show respect to the person with white hair. Honor an older person and you will honor your God. I am the Lord.

³³ ‘If a stranger lives with you in your land, do not do wrong to him. ³⁴ You should act toward the stranger who lives among you as you would toward one born among you. Love him as you love yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ ‘Do not lie about the weight or price of anything. ³⁶ Always tell the truth about it. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ Keep all My Laws and do all that I tell you. I am the Lord.’”

Punishment for Those Who Do Not Obey the Law

20 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Any man of Israel or of the strangers living in Israel, who gives any of his children to the false god Molech, must be put to death. The people of the land will kill him with stones. ³ I Myself will go against that man and he will not be numbered among God’s people, because he has given some of his children to Molech, making My holy place sinful and bringing shame on My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land close their eyes when a man gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, ⁵ then I Myself will go against that man and his family. They will not be numbered among God’s people, and all who follow him to sell themselves to Molech.

⁶ ‘I will go against the person who turns to those who speak with bad spirits and talk to the dead. In doing this, he sells himself to them. He will not be numbered among God’s people. ⁷ So you should set yourselves apart and be holy. For I am the Lord your God. ⁸ Keep My Laws and live by them. I am the Lord Who sets you apart.

⁹ ‘If there is anyone who curses his father or mother, he will for sure be put to death. Because he has cursed his father or mother, his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁰ ‘If a man does sex sins with another man’s wife, even his friend’s wife, both the sinful man and woman must be put to death. ¹¹ If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has put his father to shame. Both of the guilty ones must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin. ¹² If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done a bad sex sin. They will suffer for their own sin. ¹³ If a man lies with a male as if he were a woman, both of them have done a very sinful act. They must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin. ¹⁴ If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is sin. Both he and they will be burned with fire, so this kind of sin will not be among you. ¹⁵ If a man lies with an animal, he must be put to death. Kill the animal also. ¹⁶ If a woman goes near any animal to have sex with it, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin.

¹⁷ ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s or mother’s daughter, and he sees her without clothes on and she sees him, it is a shame. They will be punished in front of their people. He has taken off his sister’s clothes. He will suffer for his own sin. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman who has a flow of blood, and takes her clothes off, he has made her flow to show. And she has shown the flow of her blood. So both of them will not be numbered among God’s people. ¹⁹ Do not take the clothes off your mother’s sister or father’s sister. For that is putting to shame one of your own family. They will suffer for their own sin. ²⁰ If a man lies with the wife of his father’s or mother’s brother, he has put to shame his father’s or mother’s brother. They will suffer for their own sin. They will die without children. ²¹ If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is sin. He has put his brother to shame. They will have no children.

²² ‘Keep all My Laws and do what I tell you, so the land where I am bringing you to live will not spit you out. ²³ Do not follow the ways of the nation which I am driving out before you. For they did all these things, and so I hated them. ²⁴ But I have said to you, “Their land will belong to you. I Myself will give it to you for your own, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, Who has set you apart from all other peoples. ²⁵ You are to know the difference between the clean animal and the animal that is unclean, and between the clean bird and the bird that is unclean. Do not make yourselves a sinful people with animal or bird or anything that moves on the ground, which I have set apart from you as being unclean. ²⁶ Be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy. I have divided you from the nations, so you belong to Me.

²⁷ ‘A man or woman who speaks with bad spirits or who talks to the dead must be put to death. They will be killed with stones. They will suffer for their own sin.’”

How the Religious Leaders Should Live

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the religious leaders, the sons of Aaron, ‘No one should make himself unclean for a dead person among his people, ² except for his own family, his mother, father, son, daughter and brother, ³ or his young sister who is near to him because she has had no husband. For her he may make himself unclean. ⁴ He should not make himself unclean as a husband among his people, and so make himself sinful. ⁵ They should not cut all the hair from any part on their heads, or cut part of the hair off their face, or make cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They should be holy to their God and not put the name of their God to shame. For they give the gifts by fire to the Lord, the bread of their God. So they must be holy. ⁷ They should not take a woman who is unclean because of selling the use of her body. They should not take a woman who is divorced from her husband. For the religious leader is holy to his God. ⁸ So you must set him apart, for he gives the bread of your God. He will be holy to you. For I, the Lord Who sets you apart, am holy. ⁹ If the daughter of any religious leader makes herself sinful by selling the use of her body, she puts her father to shame. She will be burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘The head religious leader on whose head the holy oil has been poured, and who has been set apart to wear the clothing, must not take the covering off his head or tear his clothes. ¹¹ He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother. ¹² He must not go out of the holy place or sin against the holy place of his God. For the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. ¹³ He should take a wife who has never had a man before. ¹⁴ He should not marry a woman whose husband has died, or a divorced woman, or one who has made herself sinful by selling the use of her body. But he should marry a woman from his own people, who has never had a man. ¹⁵ By doing this he will not sin against his children among his people. For I am the Lord Who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your children or their children who has something wrong with his body should go near to give the bread as a gift to his God. ¹⁸ For no one whose body is not perfect should come near, no blind man, or man who cannot walk, or one with a marked face, or a bad arm or leg, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or hand, ²⁰ or a man with a crooked upper back from birth, or a very little man, or one who has a bad eye or skin trouble or sores, or one whose sex parts have been crushed. ²¹ No man among the children of Aaron the religious leader, who has something wrong with his body, should come near to give the Lord’s gifts by fire. He should not come near to give the bread of his God, because he has something wrong with him. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy. ²³ But he should not come near the curtain or the altar, because he has something wrong with him, and so he may not sin against My holy places. For I am the Lord Who makes them holy.’” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.