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Living as holy people

19 The Lord said to Moses, Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must keep my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves; I am the Lord your God. When you sacrifice a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it so that it will be accepted on your account. It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice or the following day; whatever is left over on the third day must be burned with fire. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is foul; it will not be accepted. Anyone who eats it will be liable to punishment, because they defiled what is holy to the Lord. That person will be cut off from their people. When you harvest your land’s produce, you must not harvest all the way to the edge of your field; and don’t gather up every remaining bit of your harvest. 10 Also do not pick your vineyard clean or gather up all the grapes that have fallen there. Leave these items for the poor and the immigrant; I am the Lord your God.

11 You must not steal nor deceive nor lie to each other. 12 You must not swear falsely by my name, desecrating your God’s name in doing so; I am the Lord. 13 You must not oppress your neighbors or rob them. Do not withhold a hired laborer’s pay overnight. 14 You must not insult a deaf person or put some obstacle in front of a blind person that would cause them to trip. Instead, fear your God; I am the Lord.

15 You must not act unjustly in a legal case. Do not show favoritism to the poor or deference to the great; you must judge your fellow Israelites fairly. 16 Do not go around slandering your people.[a] Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed;[b] I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your fellow Israelite strongly, so you don’t become responsible for his sin.[c] 18 You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

19 You must keep my rules. Do not crossbreed your livestock, do not plant your field with two kinds of seed, and do not wear clothes made from two kinds of material. 20 If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave engaged to another man, who hasn’t yet been released or given her freedom, there must be a punishment.[d] But they will not be put to death because she had not yet been freed. 21 The man must bring as his compensation to the Lord at the meeting tent’s entrance a ram for a compensation offering. 22 The priest will use the ram for the compensation offering to make reconciliation for him before the Lord on account of the sin he committed. Then he will be forgiven of the sin that he committed.

23 When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit off-limits.[e] For three years it will be off-limits to you;[f] it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year, all of the tree’s fruit will be holy, a celebration for the Lord. 25 In the fifth year you can eat the fruit. This is so as to increase its produce for you; I am the Lord your God.

26 You must not eat anything with its blood. You must not participate in divination or fortune-telling. 27 You must not cut off the hair on your forehead or clip the ends of your beard. 28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead[g] or put marks on[h] yourselves; I am the Lord. 29 Do not defile your daughter by making her sexually promiscuous or else the land will become promiscuous[i] and full of shame. 30 You must keep my sabbaths and treat my sanctuary with respect; I am the Lord. 31 Do not resort to dead spirits or inquire of spirits of divination—you will be made unclean by them; I am the Lord your God. 32 You must rise in the presence of an old person and respect the elderly. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.

33 When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. 34 Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. 35 You must not act unjustly in a legal case involving measures of length, weight, or volume. 36 You must have accurate scales and accurate weights, an accurate ephah[j] and an accurate hin.[k] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You must keep all my rules and all my regulations, and do them; I am the Lord.

Worship of Molech forbidden

20 The Lord said to Moses, You will also say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or any immigrant living in Israel who gives their children to Molech must be executed. The common people will stone such a person. Moreover, I will set my own face against such a person, cutting them off from their people, because they gave their children to Molech, making my sanctuary unclean and degrading my holy name by doing so. But if the common people choose to look the other way when someone gives their children to Molech and do not execute such a person, I will set my own face against such a person and their extended family, cutting off from their people both the guilty party and anyone with them who faithlessly followed Molech. I will also oppose anyone who resorts to dead spirits or spirits of divination and faithlessly follows those things. I will cut such an individual off from their people.

Sexual prohibitions

You must be holy and keep yourselves holy because I am the Lord your God. You will keep my rules and do them; I am the Lord, who makes you holy. If anyone curses their father or mother, they must be executed. They have cursed their own father and mother; that person’s blood is on their own heads. 10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman, committing adultery with a neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be executed. 11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be executed. They have acted perversely; their blood is on their own heads. 13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a man as he would with a woman, the two of them have done something detestable. They must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother as well, it is shameful. They will be burned with fire—the man and the two women—so that no such shameful thing will be found among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be executed and you must kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any kind of animal to mate with it, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be executed; their blood is on their own heads. 17 If a man marries his sister—his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter—and they have sexual contact with each other, it is a disgrace. They will be cut off in the sight of their people. Such a man has had sexual contact with his sister; he will be liable to punishment. 18 If a man sleeps with a woman during her menstrual period and has sexual contact with her, he has exposed the source of her blood flow and she has uncovered the same. Both of them will be cut off from their people. 19 You must not have sexual contact with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, because that exposes your own close relative; both of you will be liable to punishment. 20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. The man and the aunt will be liable to punishment; they will die childless. 21 If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is indecent. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; the man and the woman will be childless.

Conclusion concerning conduct

22 You must keep all my rules and all my regulations, and do them so that the land I am bringing you to, where you will live, won’t vomit you out. 23 You must not follow the practices[l] of the nations that I am throwing out before you, because they did all these things and I was disgusted with them. 24 But I have told you, “You will certainly possess their fertile land; I am giving it to you to possess. It is a land full of milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from all other peoples. 25 So you must separate between clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. Do not become detestable through some animal, bird, or anything that moves on the fertile ground that I have separated from you as unclean. 26 You must be holy to me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from all other peoples to be my own. 27 If someone, whether male or female, is a medium with the dead or a diviner,[m] they must be executed. They will be stoned; their blood is on their own head.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
  2. Leviticus 19:16 Heb uncertain
  3. Leviticus 19:17 Or strongly, but don’t become liable for punishment because of it; Heb uncertain
  4. Leviticus 19:20 Or an inquiry
  5. Leviticus 19:23 Or treat its fruit as a foreskin
  6. Leviticus 19:23 Or uncircumcised to you
  7. Leviticus 19:28 Or for the living
  8. Leviticus 19:28 Or tattoo; Heb uncertain
  9. Leviticus 19:29 Or making her a prostitute so that the land won’t become a prostitute
  10. Leviticus 19:36 Approximately twenty quarts
  11. Leviticus 19:36 Approximately one gallon of liquid
  12. Leviticus 20:23 Or rules or customs
  13. Leviticus 20:27 Or has a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination

Various Laws

19 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel(A) and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God,(B) am holy.(C)

“‘Each of you must respect your mother and father,(D) and you must observe my Sabbaths.(E) I am the Lord your God.(F)

“‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves.(G) I am the Lord your God.(H)

“‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up.(I) If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted.(J) Whoever eats it will be held responsible(K) because they have desecrated what is holy(L) to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people.(M)

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges(N) of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(O) 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time(P) or pick up the grapes that have fallen.(Q) Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.(R) I am the Lord your God.

11 “‘Do not steal.(S)

“‘Do not lie.(T)

“‘Do not deceive one another.(U)

12 “‘Do not swear falsely(V) by my name(W) and so profane(X) the name of your God. I am the Lord.

13 “‘Do not defraud or rob(Y) your neighbor.(Z)

“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker(AA) overnight.(AB)

14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,(AC) but fear your God.(AD) I am the Lord.

15 “‘Do not pervert justice;(AE) do not show partiality(AF) to the poor or favoritism to the great,(AG) but judge your neighbor fairly.(AH)

16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander(AI) among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.(AJ) I am the Lord.

17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart.(AK) Rebuke your neighbor frankly(AL) so you will not share in their guilt.

18 “‘Do not seek revenge(AM) or bear a grudge(AN) against anyone among your people,(AO) but love your neighbor(AP) as yourself.(AQ) I am the Lord.

19 “‘Keep my decrees.(AR)

“‘Do not mate different kinds of animals.

“‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.(AS)

“‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.(AT)

20 “‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man(AU) but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.[a] Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord.(AV) 22 With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven.(AW)

23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.[b] For three years you are to consider it forbidden[c]; it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy,(AX) an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.

26 “‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.(AY)

“‘Do not practice divination(AZ) or seek omens.(BA)

27 “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.(BB)

28 “‘Do not cut(BC) your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.

29 “‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute,(BD) or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.(BE)

30 “‘Observe my Sabbaths(BF) and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.(BG)

31 “‘Do not turn to mediums(BH) or seek out spiritists,(BI) for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

32 “‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect(BJ) for the elderly(BK) and revere your God.(BL) I am the Lord.(BM)

33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.(BN) Love them as yourself,(BO) for you were foreigners(BP) in Egypt.(BQ) I am the Lord your God.

35 “‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity.(BR) 36 Use honest scales(BS) and honest weights, an honest ephah[d](BT) and an honest hin.[e](BU) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.(BV)

37 “‘Keep all my decrees(BW) and all my laws(BX) and follow them. I am the Lord.’”

Punishments for Sin

20 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.(BY) The members of the community are to stone him.(BZ) I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;(CA) for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled(CB) my sanctuary(CC) and profaned my holy name.(CD) If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,(CE) I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

“‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.(CF)

“‘Consecrate yourselves(CG) and be holy,(CH) because I am the Lord your God.(CI) Keep my decrees(CJ) and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.(CK)

“‘Anyone who curses their father(CL) or mother(CM) is to be put to death.(CN) Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.(CO)

10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife(CP)—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.(CQ)

11 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.(CR) Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.(CS)

12 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law,(CT) both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.(CU) They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

14 “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother,(CV) it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire,(CW) so that no wickedness will be among you.(CX)

15 “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal,(CY) he is to be put to death,(CZ) and you must kill the animal.

16 “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

17 “‘If a man marries his sister(DA), the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed(DB) from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.(DC)

18 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,(DD) he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.(DE)

19 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father,(DF) for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.

20 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt,(DG) he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.(DH)

21 “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife,(DI) it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.(DJ)

22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws(DK) and follow them, so that the land(DL) where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations(DM) I am going to drive out before you.(DN) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(DO) 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(DP) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.(DQ)

25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.(DR) Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to me(DS) because I, the Lord, am holy,(DT) and I have set you apart from the nations(DU) to be my own.

27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium(DV) or spiritist among you must be put to death.(DW) You are to stone them;(DX) their blood will be on their own heads.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:20 Or be an inquiry
  2. Leviticus 19:23 Hebrew uncircumcised
  3. Leviticus 19:23 Hebrew uncircumcised
  4. Leviticus 19:36 An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 3/5 of a bushel or about 22 liters.
  5. Leviticus 19:36 A hin was a liquid measure having the capacity of about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters.

19 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.

Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.

And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will.

It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.

And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.

Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the Lord: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.

11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord.

17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

21 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.

22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal.

25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God.

26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.

33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.

20 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:

Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.

And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.

For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.

20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.

23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.

25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.