Idolatry Forbidden

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you (B)shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep (C)My Sabbaths; (D)I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to (E)idols or make for yourselves cast metal (F)gods; I am the Lord your God.

‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, and on the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is unclean; it will not be accepted. And everyone who eats it will bear the consequences for his guilt, because he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Laws

(G)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

11 (H)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, (I)nor lie to one another. 12 And (J)you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to (K)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

13 (L)You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. (M)The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor (N)put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

15 (O)You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You shall not go about as (P)a slanderer among your people; and you are not to [a]jeopardize the [b](Q)life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

17 ‘You (R)shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you (S)may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. 18 (T)You shall not take vengeance, (U)nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but (V)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

19 ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not cross-breed two kinds of your cattle; (W)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment of two kinds of material mixed together.

20 (X)Now if a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free. 21 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, (Y)a ram as a guilt offering. 22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

23 ‘Now when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as [c]forbidden. For three years it shall be [d]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, so that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

26 ‘You shall not eat any meat (Z)with the blood. You shall not practice (AA)divination nor soothsaying. 27 (AB)You shall not round off the [e]hairline of your heads, nor trim the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts in your [f]body for the [g]dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 (AC)Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and the land does not become full of outrageous sin. 30 You shall (AD)keep My Sabbaths and (AE)revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

31 ‘Do not turn to [h](AF)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

32 (AG)You shall stand up in the presence of the grayheaded and honor [i]elders, and you shall [j]fear your God; I am the Lord.

33 (AH)When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not [k]do him wrong. 34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and (AI)you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

35 (AJ)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or volume. 36 You shall have (AK)accurate balances, accurate weights, an accurate [l]ephah, and an accurate [m]hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 So you shall keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them; I am the Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:16 Lit stand on
  2. Leviticus 19:16 Lit blood
  3. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  4. Leviticus 19:23 Lit uncircumcised
  5. Leviticus 19:27 Lit side
  6. Leviticus 19:28 Lit flesh
  7. Leviticus 19:28 Lit soul
  8. Leviticus 19:31 Or ghosts or spirits
  9. Leviticus 19:32 Lit the face of the old
  10. Leviticus 19:32 Or revere
  11. Leviticus 19:33 Lit oppress him
  12. Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a dry measure, about 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  13. Leviticus 19:36 I.e., a liquid measure, about 1 gallon or 3.8 liters

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.’”

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.