Chapter 18^[a]

Sexual Conduct. ¹ The Lord spoke again to Moses saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: ‘I am the Lord, your God.^{[b] 3} You shall not do things like they did in Egypt, where you dwelt, nor shall you do things like they do in Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not do these things, nor shall you follow their ordinances.^{[c] 4} You shall observe my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, walking in them. I am the Lord, your God. ⁵ You shall keep my ordinances and my statutes. He who obeys them shall live by them. I am the Lord, your God.

⁶ “ ‘None of you is to be intimate with any of your close relatives, to uncover their nakedness. I am the Lord. ⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father or your mother. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife, for her nakedness is like your father’s own nakedness. ⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, whether she be the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether she be born in your household or elsewhere. ¹⁰ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter nor shall you uncover the nakedness of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is like your own nakedness. ¹¹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, the daughter born of your father. She is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relation. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relation. ¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not be intimate with his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. Her nakedness is like your brother’s nakedness.^{[d] 17} You shall not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter. Nor shall you uncover the nakedness of her son’s daughter nor her daughter’s daughter. They are her close relations. It would be shameful. ¹⁸ You shall not take the sister of your wife while she is still alive, uncovering her nakedness. They would be rivals.

¹⁹ “ ‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. ²⁰ You shall not have sex with your neighbor’s wife, defiling both her and yourself. ²¹ You shall not offer any of your children to Molech.^[e] You shall not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. ²² You shall not have sex with a man as you would with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³ Nor shall you have sex with any animal, defiling yourself. Nor shall any woman have sex with an animal. It is perverse.

²⁴ “ ‘You shall not defile yourself by doing any of these things, for the pagans have defiled themselves by all of these things. I am casting them out before you. ²⁵ Because of this the land is defiled, and I will punish its iniquity. The land will vomit out its inhabitants. ²⁶ Therefore, you shall observe my statutes and my ordinances. You shall not commit any abominations, neither anyone from your own nation nor any aliens who dwell among you. ²⁷ The men of the land that lies before you have committed all of these abominations, and the land is defiled. ²⁸ Otherwise the land will vomit you out, too, when you defile it, like it vomited out the pagans before you. ²⁹ Whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Therefore, you shall keep my ordinances, and you shall not do any of these abominable things, such as the things that were done before you, lest you defile yourself. I am the Lord, your God.’ ”

Chapter 19

Behavior Pleasing to the Lord.¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel and say: Be holy, for I am holy. I am the Lord, your God. ³ Every man shall honor his father and his mother, and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord, your God.

⁴ “Do not worship idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord, your God. ⁵ When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, you shall do it so that it will be acceptable. ⁶ You shall eat it either on the same day or on the next day. Whatever is left over until the third day should be burned in fire. ⁷ If you were to eat it on the third day, it would be an abomination. It would not be accepted. ⁸ Therefore, everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he shall have profaned something holy to the Lord. That person shall be cut off from among his people.

^9 [f]“When you gather the harvest of your land, do not reap the corners of your field nor gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ You shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather all the grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord, your God.

¹¹ “You are not to steal, nor should you deceive nor lie to one another. ¹² Nor shall you swear a false oath by my name, nor shall you profane my name. I am your God, the Lord.

¹³ “You shall not defraud your neighbor, nor shall you rob him. You shall not keep the wages of the person you have hired all night, until the morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse the deaf, nor shall you put a stumbling block before the blind, for you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.

¹⁵ “You shall not commit any injustice in judging the poor, nor shall you show partiality to the mighty. You shall judge your neighbor with righteousness. ¹⁶ You are not to spread slander among your people, nor shall you act against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, nor shall you rebuke your brother in any way, lest you bear sin because of him. ¹⁸ You shall not seek vengeance nor bear a grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.^[g] I am the Lord.

¹⁹ “Obey my ordinances. Do not keep one type of cattle with another. Do not sow a field with seed that is mixed. Do not wear clothes made both of wool and linen.

²⁰ “If a man has sex with a slave girl who is betrothed and belongs to another man, and she has not been redeemed nor has she been given her freedom, she shall be scourged, but they shall not be put to death for she was not free. ²¹ He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, for the sin he has committed, with the ram of the guilt offering. He shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

²³ “When you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees, you shall leave its fruit unharvested^[h] for three years. It is not to be eaten. ²⁴ But the fourth year all of its fruit will be holy, a praise offering to the Lord. ²⁵ In the fifth year you can eat its fruit. Thus, it will yield more richly for you. I am the Lord, your God.

²⁶ “You must not eat anything with blood in it. You must not practice magic or cast spells. ^27 [i]You must not trim the hair on the side of your head, nor must you clip the edges of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not slash your skin to mourn the dead, nor shall you have any tattoos. I am the Lord.

²⁹ “Do not prostitute your daughter, forcing her to commit fornication, lest the land become adulterous and the land be full of lewdness. ³⁰ You will observe my Sabbaths and respect my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³¹ “Do not consult mediums or seek after wizards, to be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God.

³² “You will stand up in the presence of those with gray hair, and honor the presence of those who are old, and you will fear your God. I am the Lord.

³³ “If an alien dwells in your land, you will not harass him. ³⁴ You will treat the alien who dwells among you just as you would the person who was born among you. You shall love him as yourself, for you were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.

³⁵ “You shall not cheat in measuring lengths or weights or volumes. ³⁶ You will use honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.^[j] I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ Therefore, you will observe all of my statutes and my decrees, and follow them. I am the Lord.”

Chapter 20^[k]

Consequences of Forbidden Behavior. ¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say again to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever among you sacrifices his child to Molech, whether he be of the children of Israel or of the aliens dwelling in your land, must be put to death. The people of the land will stone him.^{[l] 3} I will set my face against that man, and cut him off from among his people, for he has sacrificed his child to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land ignore the fact that a man has sacrificed his child to Molech, and they do not kill him, ⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his people, and I will cut him off, and I will cut off from their people all who go whoring after him, all those who whore after Molech.

⁶ “ ‘I will turn my face against that person who consults mediums and wizards, and I will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord, your God. ⁸ You shall observe my statutes and obey them. I am the Lord who consecrates you.

⁹ “ ‘Everyone who curses his father or his mother must be put to death. He who curses his father or his mother^[m] is guilty of his blood. ¹⁰ When a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ¹¹ The man who sleeps with his father’s wife has uncovered the nakedness of his father. They must be put to death; their blood is upon their own heads. ¹² If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done something perverse and their blood is upon their own heads. ¹³ If a man has sex with another man, like one would have sex with a woman, both of them must be put to death. Their blood is upon their own heads. ¹⁴ It is lewd for a man to marry a woman and her mother. Both he and they are to be burned with fire so that there might not be any lewdness among you. ¹⁵ If a man has sex with an animal, he must die. You shall also slay the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches an animal to have sex with it, you shall kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death, for their blood is upon their own heads. ¹⁷ If a man marries his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is shameful. They shall be cut off from their people, for he uncovered his sister’s nakedness and he shall bear his guilt.^[n]

¹⁸ “ ‘If a man has sex with a woman during her menstrual time, they shall have uncovered her flow of blood, and they shall both be cut off from among their people. ¹⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for someone who uncovers a close relation shall bear his guilt. ²⁰ A man shall not have sex with his uncle’s wife, for he shall have laid bare his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their guilt and die childless. ²¹ It is unclean for a man to marry his brother’s wife for he shall have uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

²² “ ‘You shall therefore observe all of my statutes and ordinances and obey them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to dwell in will not vomit you out. ²³ You shall not follow the ways of the nations that I cast out before you for having done all these things that I abhorred. ²⁴ But I have said to you, “You will inherit their land. I will give it to you to be your own, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord, your God, who chose you from among all people.” ²⁵ You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, so that you shall not make yourselves detestable by any animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground that I indicated as being unclean. ²⁶ You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy. I have chosen you from among all people that you shall be mine.

²⁷ “ ‘A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard must be put to death. You will stone them with stones, for their blood is upon their heads.’ ”

Chapter 21

Regulations for Priests. ¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall become unclean by touching a dead person^{[o] 2} except for a close relative, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, ³ or his unmarried sister, who is near to him, for she has no husband. For these he can become unclean. ⁴ But he is not to become unclean for people related by marriage, becoming unclean for them.

⁵ “ ‘Priests must not shave their heads bald nor trim their beards nor shall they cut their flesh.^{[p] 6} They shall be holy to their God, and they are not to profane the name of their God, for they present offerings made by fire to the Lord, the food of their God. Therefore, they will be holy. ⁷ They are not to marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, nor are they to marry a woman who has been divorced by her husband, for he is holy to his God.^{[q] 8} You shall therefore consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He will be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.

⁹ “ ‘If the daughter of any priest defiles herself by playing the whore, thus defiling her father, then she is to be burned with fire.

¹⁰ “ ‘The priest who is the most important from among his brothers, upon whose head was poured the oil of anointing, and who was consecrated to wear the garments, he is not to uncover his head or rend his garments ¹¹ nor shall he make himself unclean by touching any dead body, even that of his own father or mother. ¹² He shall not leave the sanctuary nor desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the oil of anointing of his God is on him. I am the Lord. ¹³ He shall marry a woman who is a virgin. ¹⁴ He shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has defiled herself by fornication. Rather, he is to marry a virgin from his own people ¹⁵ so that he not profane his posterity among his people. I am the Lord, who sanctifies him.’ ”

¹⁶ Priestly Defects. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron saying: ‘Any of your descendants who has a defect is not to draw near to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ No one who has a defect shall approach, whether he be blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, ¹⁹ or if he has a crippled foot or hand, ²⁰ or if he be hunchbacked or dwarfed, or if he has an eye defect, or a scab or sore or damaged testicles. ²¹ No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall draw near to present offerings made by fire to the Lord. He who has a blemish shall not come to offer the bread of his God ²² for the bread of his God is most holy. He can eat what is holy, ²³ but he shall not enter inside the veil^[r] or approach the altar because of his defect, lest he defile the sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’ ”

²⁴ Moses said this to Aaron and to his sons and to all of the children of Israel.

Chapter 22

Protecting What Is Sanctified. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ² “Tell Aaron and his son to treat the holy things of the children of Israel with respect so that they not profane my holy name by those things that they have consecrated to me. I am the Lord.

³ “Say to them: Any of your descendants who approaches these holy things that the children of Israel have consecrated to the Lord while he is unclean, that person will be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

⁴ “Any descendant who is a leper or who has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person or who has had an emission of semen ⁵ or whoever touches any creeping thing that can make him unclean, or touches a man whose uncleanness he acquires, whatever the source of uncleanness, ⁶ if someone touches one such a person, then he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes himself with water. ⁷ When the sun sets, he shall be clean. He can then eat the holy things, for it is his food. ⁸ He shall not eat anything that died on its own or was torn apart by wild beasts, thereby defiling himself. I am the Lord. ⁹ They shall therefore observe my statutes lest they become guilty and die when they profane it. I am the Lord, who sanctifies them.^[s]

¹⁰ “No foreigner can eat the holy things. No guest of the priest or hired hand can eat the holy things. ¹¹ But if the priest buys a slave, the slave can eat it, and if a slave is born to his household, he can eat his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter marries an outsider, she cannot eat an offering of the holy things. ¹³ But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced and she has no children, and she has returned to her father’s household as when she was young, she can eat from her father’s portion of food, but no outsider is to eat of it. ¹⁴ If someone eats some of the holy things by accident, he is to add a fifth to its value and give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ They must not profane the holy things of the children of Israel that they offer to the Lord ¹⁶ lest they bear the guilt of their trespass when they eat their holy things. I am the Lord, who consecrates them.”

¹⁷ Acceptable Offerings.^[t]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel saying: If anyone from the house of Israel or from among the aliens living in Israel presents a burnt offering as a votive offering or a free-will offering to the Lord, ¹⁹ it must be a male without blemish from among the cattle or the sheep or the goats, for you to be found acceptable. ²⁰ You shall offer nothing with a defect; it shall not be acceptable for you. ²¹ If someone offers a peace offering as the fulfillment of a vow or as a free-will offering, whether it be from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be acceptable. It must have no defect. ²² You shall not offer anything that is blind or injured or maimed, or anything with sores or scabs or scales. You shall not use these as an offering to the Lord by fire, on the altar to the Lord. ²³ You can offer a young bull or a lamb that has any parts that are in excess or lacking as a free-will offering, but it is not acceptable for a votive offering. ²⁴ You shall not offer anything that is bruised or crushed or broken or cut to the Lord. You shall not make this type of offering in your land. ²⁵ You shall not offer food from a foreigner’s hand to your God. All of these things have their corruption in them and their blemishes in them; they are not acceptable for you.”

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “When a young bull or a sheep or a goat is brought as an offering, you shall leave it for seven days with its mother. On the eighth day, it shall be acceptable as an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ You are not to kill a cow or ewe with its young on the same day. ²⁹ When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving^[u] to the Lord, you are to do it in the correct manner. ³⁰ You shall eat it on the day that you offer it; none of it is to be left over until the next day. I am the Lord. ³¹ You shall observe my commandments and obey them. I am the Lord.

³² “You shall not profane my holy name, for I am to be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who hallows you, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”

Chapter 23^[v]

Holy Days. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord on which you shall proclaim holy assemblies, these are my feasts:

^3 [w]“For six days work can be done, but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, a holy assembly. You will do no work on it; it is a Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. ⁴ These are the feasts of the Lord, holy assemblies that you shall proclaim at their appointed time.

Passover.^{[x] 5} “The evening of the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s Passover. ⁶ The fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. ⁷ On the first day you are to have a holy assembly. No heavy labor is to be done on that day. ⁸ You will make an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day you are to have a holy assembly. No heavy labor is to be done on that day.”

^9 [y]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, and you collect the harvest, you are to bring an omer measure of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He shall wave the omer before the Lord so that it might be acceptable for you. The priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day that you wave the omer, you shall offer a one-year-old male lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ Its grain offering is to be two-tenths of an omer of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, a pleasing fragrance. Bring a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. ¹⁴ You are not to eat bread or roasted grain or the green heads of grain until that day that you have brought your offering to your God. This is a statute from one generation to the next in all of your dwellings.

¹⁵ Pentecost.^[z]“You shall count off for yourselves seven complete Sabbaths from the day after the Sabbath when you brought your omer as a wave offering. ¹⁶ On the day after the seventh Sabbath, having counted fifty days, you shall offer a new cereal offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring out from your dwellings loaves of bread as wave offerings that have been made with two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They are to be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ Along with the bread you shall offer seven lambs without blemish and one young bull and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. Together with the cereal offerings and the drink offerings, you are to make an offering by fire, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord. ¹⁹ You shall sacrifice one of the kid goats as a sin offering and you shall sacrifice two of the one-year-old lambs as a peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them together with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering to the Lord, with two holy lambs. They shall be an offering to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ You shall proclaim on that day that there is to be a holy assembly. You are not to do any heavy labor. This shall be a statute forever in all of your dwellings, from one generation to the next.

²² “When you collect the harvest of your land, you shall not gather it right up to the corners of the field, nor shall you gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord, your God.”

²³ New Year’s Day.^[aa] The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel saying: On the first day of the seventh month you shall observe a Sabbath, a memorial with the blowing of trumpets, a holy assembly. ²⁵ You shall do no heavy labor. You shall make an offering by fire to the Lord.”

²⁶ Day of Atonement.^[ab] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “The tenth day of the seventh month shall be a Day of Atonement. You shall have a holy assembly and you shall humble yourselves. You shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ You shall not work on this day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord, your God. ²⁹ Whoever does not humble himself that day shall be cut off from among his people. ³⁰ I will destroy whoever does any work on that day from among his people. ³¹ You shall do absolutely no work. This shall be a statute forever from one generation to the next in all of your dwellings. ³² It shall be a Sabbath of rest for you. You shall humble yourselves on the evening of the ninth of the month. You shall celebrate your Sabbath from that evening until the next.”

³³ Feast of Booths.^[ac] The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Lord’s Feast of Booths, for seven days. ³⁵ On the first day you shall have a holy assembly. You shall do no heavy labor. ³⁶ For seven days you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy assembly and you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a holy assembly, and you shall do no heavy labor. ³⁷ These are the feasts of the Lord on which you shall proclaim holy assemblies, making a burnt offering to the Lord, and offering up a cereal offering, a sacrifice, and a drink offering, each on its own day, ³⁸ in addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, your gifts, your vows, and all of the free-will offerings that you give to the Lord. ³⁹ On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day there will be a Sabbath rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day you shall gather for yourselves the shoots of the healthy trees, fronds from the palm trees, branches from the leafy trees, and willows from the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God, for seven days. ⁴¹ You shall observe it as a feast of the Lord for seven days each year. This is a statute forever, from one generation to the next, that you shall celebrate in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in tents for seven days. All native-born Israelites shall dwell in tents ⁴³ so that all of your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.”

⁴⁴ This is how Moses described the feasts of the Lord to the children of Israel.

Chapter 24

The Sanctuary Lamp.^{[ad] 1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the lamp, that the light might burn continually. ³ Aaron is to place it outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the tent of meeting, burning it from evening to morning before the Lord forever. This shall be a statute forever, from one generation to the next. ⁴ He shall place the lamps upon the pure golden lampstand, before the Lord forever.

The Bread Offering. ⁵ “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes, two-tenths of an ephah in each cake. ⁶ You shall set them in two rows, six cakes to a row, on the pure golden table before the Lord. ⁷ You shall sprinkle pure frankincense^[ae] upon each row, on the bread, so that it might be a memorial offering made by fire to the Lord. ⁸ Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord forever. It is an everlasting covenant for the children of Israel. ⁹ It belongs to Aaron and his sons who are to eat it in a holy place, for it is a most holy part of his portion of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. This is a statute forever.”

¹⁰ Consequences of Blasphemy.^[af] The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel, and this son of the Israelite woman got into a fight with an Israelite man. ¹¹ The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. They brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ¹² They put him under guard until the will of the Lord might be revealed to them. ¹³ The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁴ “Bring the one who has cursed outside of the camp. Let everyone who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the assembly stone him. ¹⁵ You shall speak to the children of Israel saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his guilt. ¹⁶ He who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. All of the assembly shall stone him, the alien as well as the native born. He who blasphemes the Lord shall be put to death.^[ag]

¹⁷ “ ‘He who kills any man must be put to death. ¹⁸ He who kills an animal shall make restitution for it, an animal for an animal. ¹⁹ When a man wounds a neighbor, whatever he has done shall be done to him: ²⁰ broken bone for broken bone, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. In whatever way he wounded another, so it shall be done to him. ²¹ He who kills an animal shall make restitution and he who kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have one set of laws for both the alien and for the native born. I am the Lord, your God.’ ”

²³ Moses told the children of Israel that they should bring the man who had cursed outside of the camp and stone him to death. The children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Chapter 25

Year of the Sabbath.^{[ah] 1} The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel saying to them: When you come into the land that I am giving you, the land is to keep a Sabbath to the Lord. ³ You shall sow the fields for six years and you shall prune the vineyard and harvest its fruit for six years, ⁴ but the seventh year will be a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. It is a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ You shall not harvest whatever grows on its own, nor shall you gather the grapes of your undressed vines. It is a year of rest for the land. ⁶ During this Sabbath the land will provide food for you, for you and your servant, and your maid, and your hired hand, and your alien who dwells with you, ⁷ and for your cattle and your animals in the land. All of your produce will be for food.

The Year of Jubilee.^{[ai] 8} “You shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourselves, seven times seven years, and your span of seven times seven years will be forty-nine years. ⁹ You shall blow the trumpet of the Jubilee on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement you shall blow the trumpet throughout the land. ¹⁰ You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the whole land to all of its inhabitants. It will be a Jubilee for you. Each of you shall return to his own property, and each shall return to his own clan. ¹¹ The fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you. You shall not sow nor reap. You shall not reap what grows on its own, and you shall not gather grapes from the undressed vines. ¹² It is a Jubilee and it is to be holy for you. You shall eat only what comes directly from the fields.

¹³ “In the Jubilee Year you shall return each man to his property. ¹⁴ If you sell some merchandise to your neighbor, or you buy something from your neighbor, you shall not take advantage of one another. ¹⁵ You shall buy from your neighbor based on the number of years since the Jubilee. He is to sell to you based on the number of years left for harvesting crops. ¹⁶ If the number of years left is greater, you shall increase the price paid, but if the number of years is smaller, then you shall decrease the price paid, for it is the number of harvests that he is selling you. ¹⁷ You shall not wrong one another, for you shall fear your God. I am the Lord, your God.

¹⁸ “You shall observe my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them in order to live securely in the land. ¹⁹ The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell in the land securely. ²⁰ If you should say, ‘What will we eat the seventh year, for we are not sowing nor are we gathering our increase,’ ²¹ then I will send my blessing upon you in the sixth year so that the crops are abundant enough for three years. ²² You shall sow in the eighth year, but you shall still be eating old fruit until the ninth year. You shall be eating old fruit until its fruit comes in.

²³ Redemption of the Land.^[aj]“The land will not be permanently sold, for the land belongs to me and you are my aliens and tenants. ²⁴ In all the land that you possess, you shall provide a redemption for the land. ²⁵ If your brother becomes impoverished and sells part of his property, then his next of kin shall come and redeem it. He shall redeem what his brother has sold.^{[ak] 26} If there is no one else to redeem it and the man himself can redeem it, ²⁷ then let him calculate the number of years since the sale, and let him pay for the remaining years to the man to whom he sold it, so that he can return to his property. ²⁸ But if he is not able to get it back, then what he sold shall remain in the possession of the one who bought it until the Jubilee Year. It shall revert to him in the Jubilee, so that he can return to his property.

²⁹ “If a man sells his home in a walled city, then he can redeem it any time within one year. He can redeem it for a year from the time he sold it. ³⁰ But if he has not redeemed it within the period of one year, then the house within the walled city shall belong to the person who bought it forever, from one generation to the next. It shall not revert during the Jubilee Year. ³¹ Houses in villages that have no walls around them shall be treated just like fields in the countryside. They can be redeemed, and they shall revert in the Jubilee Year. ³² This does not apply to the cities of the Levites, for the Levites can redeem their possessions, their houses in the cities, at any time. ³³ Whenever a person buys a house in the city from the Levites, what was sold will revert in the Jubilee Year, for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ³⁴ But the fields at the edge of the city cannot be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.

³⁵ “If a brother becomes poor and is unable to support himself, then you shall help him, letting him live with you as though he were a guest or a lodger. ³⁶ Do not practice usury or ask for interest, but fear God, letting your brother live with you. ³⁷ You shall not charge interest if you lend him money, nor offer him food for profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.

³⁹ “If your brother becomes poor and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve you as a slave. ⁴⁰ Treat him as a hired servant or a guest. He is to serve you only until the Jubilee Year.^{[al] 41} He shall then leave you, he and his children, and he shall return to his own family and return to the property owned by his fathers. ⁴² For you are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. You are not to be sold as slaves ⁴³ or treated harshly. Fear your God.

⁴⁴ “You can have pagan male and female slaves from the nations around you. You can buy them, male and female slaves. ⁴⁵ Furthermore, you can buy the children of the aliens living in your land, even those who were born in your land. They shall be your property. ⁴⁶ Your children shall inherit them after you die, for your slaves are property to be inherited forever. But you shall not treat your brethren, the children of Israel, with this type of harshness.

⁴⁷ “If an alien or foreigner has grown rich and one of your brethren becomes poor and sells himself to the alien or foreigner living in your midst or to a member of that foreigner’s family, ⁴⁸ that person can be redeemed. One of his relatives can redeem him. ⁴⁹ His uncle or his cousin or any of his relatives can redeem him, or if he is able, he can redeem himself. ⁵⁰ He should reckon the time from when he bought him until the Jubilee Year with the buyer. The price of redemption will be based upon the number of years and the amount a hired servant would be paid. ⁵¹ If there are still a number of years, then he will pay a larger share of the price for which he was bought. ⁵² If only a few years remain until the Jubilee Year, he will calculate the redemption that he will give him according to that number of years. ⁵³ He is to be treated like a hired servant that one would employ a year at a time. You are not to treat him harshly. ⁵⁴ Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he will be freed during the Jubilee Year, he and his children with him. ⁵⁵ The children of Israel are my servants.^[am] They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.

Chapter 26^[an]

Rewards of Obedience. ¹ “Do not make idols or carved images. Do not set up stone images in your land before which you bow down. I am the Lord, your God. ² Observe my Sabbaths and stand in awe before my sanctuary. I am the Lord. ³ Follow my statutes and keep my commandments and obey them.^{[ao] 4} Then I will give you rain in its proper season and the yield of the land shall increase and the trees of the field shall bear their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing shall continue even until your grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall continue until the time for planting. You shall eat your fill of your bread, and dwell securely in your land. ⁶ I will grant peace in the land. You shall lie down, fearing nothing. I will rid the land of savage beasts, and the sword will not pass through your land. ⁷ You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. ⁸ Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you ten thousand, and you shall put them to flight. Your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. ⁹ I will look with favor upon you, and make you fruitful, and cause you to multiply, and establish my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You shall still be eating the old harvest and shall have to clean out the old because of the new. ¹¹ I will establish my tabernacle among you, and my soul will not reject you. ^12 [ap]I will walk in your midst and I will be your God and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord, your God, who brought you forth from the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be their slaves. I have broken the bonds of your yoke and brought you out with your heads held high.

¹⁴ Consequences of Disobedience.“But if you do not listen to me and do not keep these commandments ¹⁵ and if you despise my statutes and hate my ordinances, failing to observe my commandments and breaking my covenant, ¹⁶ then I will do this to you: I will visit terror upon you, and consumption and fever that will destroy your eyesight and break your hearts. You shall plant your seeds in vain, and your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷ I will set my face against you so that you are slain by your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee even though no one is pursuing you.

¹⁸ “Then, if you still do not obey me, I will punish you seven times as much for your sins. ¹⁹ I shall break down your stubborn pride. I shall make your skies like iron and your earth like brass. ²⁰ Your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

²¹ “If you continue to be hostile to me and will not obey me, I will bring plagues upon you, seven times greater than your sins. ²² I will also send wild animals into your midst. They shall carry off your children and cut down your cattle. They shall cause your numbers to decrease and your highways shall become desolate. ²³ If you do not accept my correction through these things and you walk in opposition to me, ²⁴ then I will also walk in opposition to you and I will punish you seven times more than your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword upon you that will execute vengeance for my covenant. When you are gathered together in your cities, I will send a plague upon you and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶ When I have cut off your supply of bread, then ten women shall bake bread in the same oven. They shall deliver your measure of bread. You shall eat it, but not be satisfied.

²⁷ “But if after all of this you still will not obey me but walk in opposition to me, ²⁸ then I will walk in opposition to you in my fury. I will punish you seven times more than your sins. ²⁹ You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I will destroy your high places and cut down your idols. I will cast your bodies upon the remains of your idols, and I will loathe you. ³¹ I will lay your cities waste and bring desolation upon your sanctuaries. I will not delight in your fragrant aromas. ³² I will lay waste the land, and your enemies will dwell there. ³³ I will scatter you among the pagans and pull out my sword against you. Your land shall be desolate and your cities shall be laid waste. ³⁴ The land shall be pleased with its Sabbaths while it is desolate and you are dwelling in the land of your enemies. The land shall then rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵ It shall rest as long as it lies desolate, because it did not rest during your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

³⁶ “As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so timid in the land of their enemies that the sound of a blowing leaf will put them to flight. They shall flee as though fleeing from a sword. They shall fall down when no one is chasing them. ³⁷ They shall fall all over one another as if before a sword, even though no one is chasing them. You shall not have the strength to stand before your enemies. ³⁸ You shall die among the pagans, the land of your enemies will devour you.

³⁹ “Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in the land of their enemies, and also because of the iniquity of their fathers. They shall pine away with them. ^40 [aq]If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, the trespasses that they committed against me, and that they acted in opposition to me, ⁴¹ so that I walked in opposition to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies, if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they accept the punishment for their sins, ⁴² then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham. These I will remember, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will have been abandoned by them, and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate when they are no longer there. They shall accept the punishment for their iniquity, for they despised my ordinances and their souls loathed my statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet in spite of all of that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I loathe them, utterly destroying them, and thus breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord, their God. ⁴⁵ For their sake I will remember the covenant I made with their ancestors whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the pagans so that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

⁴⁶ These are the statutes and the ordinances and the laws that the Lord established through Moses between himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.