Leviticus 19

Religious and Social Regulations

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father,t and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

4 Do not turn to idols,s and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.

Eating the Peace Offering

5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you.t6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day,t but what is left over until the third day must be burned up.t7 If, however, it is eatent on the third day, it is spoiled,t it will not be accepted,

8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquityt because he has profaneds what is holy to the Lord.t That person will be cut off from his people.s

Leaving the Gleanings

9 “‘When you gather in the harvestt of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field,t and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest.

10 You must not pick your vineyard bare,t and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

Dealing Honestly

11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen.t12 You must not swear falselyt in my name, so that you do not profanet the name of your God. I am the Lord.13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him.t You must not withholdt the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.t You must feart your God; I am the Lord.

Justice, Love, and Propriety

15 “‘Yous must not deal unjustly in judgment:t you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich.t You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.t16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people.t You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake.t I am the Lord.17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.t18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudget against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself.s I am the Lord.

19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed,t you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not weart a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.s

Lying with a Slave Woman

20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman,t although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation.s They must not be put to death, because she was not free.21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram,s

22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed,t and he will be forgivent of his sint that he has committed.

The Produce of Fruit Trees

23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree,t you must consider its fruit to be forbidden.t Three years it will be forbidden to you;t it must not be eaten.24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offeringst to the Lord.

25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest.t I am the Lord your God.

Blood, Hair, and Body

26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it.t You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.t27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.s28 You must not slash your body for a dead persont or incise a tattoo on yourself.t I am the Lord.

29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute,t so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.t

Purity, Honor, Respect, and Honesty

30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord.31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spiritss to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord.33 When a foreigner residest with you in your land, you must not oppress him.34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; sot you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume.t36 You must have honest balances,t honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.s I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations.t I am the Lord.’”

LEVITICUS 19

Moral and Religious Laws

1 The [Lord] told Moses

2 t to say to the community of Israel:
I am the [Lord] your God. I am holy, and you must be holy too!

3-4 t Respect your father and your mother, honor the Sabbath, and don't make idols or images. I am the [Lord] your God.
5 When you offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, t be sure to follow my instructions. 6 You may eat the meat either on the day of the sacrifice or on the next day, but you must burn anything left over on the third day. 7 If you eat any of it on the third day, the sacrifice will be disgusting to me, and I will reject it.

8 In fact, you will be punished for not respecting what I say is holy, and you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
9  t When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing along the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground.

10 Don't strip your grapevines clean or gather the grapes that fall off the vines. Leave them for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the [Lord] your God.

11  t Do not steal or tell lies or cheat others.

12  t Do not misuse my name by making promises you don't intend to keep. I am the [Lord] your God.

13  t Do not steal anything or cheat anyone, and don't fail to pay your workers at the end of each day.t

14  t I am the [Lord] your God, and I command you not to make fun of the deaf or to cause a blind person to stumble.

15  t Be fair, no matter who is on trial—don't favor either the poor or the rich.

16 Don't be a gossip, but never hesitate to speak up in court, especially if your testimony can save someone's life.t
17  t Don't hold grudges. On the other hand, it's wrong not to correct someone who needs correcting.

18 t Don't be angry or try to take revenge. I am the [Lord], and I command you to love others as much as you love yourself.

19  t Breed your livestock animals only with animals of the same kind, and don't plant two kinds of seed in the same field or wear clothes made of different kinds of material.
20 If a man has sex with a slave woman who is promised in marriage to someone else, he must pay a fine, but they are not to be put to death. After all, she was still a slave at the time.t

21-22 The man must bring a ram to the entrance of the sacred tent and give it to a priest, who will then offer it as a sacrifice to me, so the man's sins will be forgiven.
23 After you enter the land, you will plant fruit trees, but you are not to eat any fruit from them for the first three years. 24 In the fourth year the fruit must be set apart, as an expression of thanks

25 to me, the [Lord] God. Do this, and in the fifth year, those trees will produce an abundant harvest of fruit for you to eat.

26  t Don't eat the blood of any animal.
Don't practice any kind of witchcraft.

27-28  t I forbid you to shave any part of your head or beard or to cut and tattoo yourself as a way of worshiping the dead.

29  t Don't let your daughters serve as temple prostitutes—this would bring disgrace both to them and the land.

30  t I command you to respect the Sabbath and the place where I am worshiped.

31  t Don't make yourselves disgusting to me by going to people who claim they can talk to the dead.

32 I command you to show respect for older people and to obey me with fear and trembling.
33  t Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land.

34 Instead, treat them as well as you treat your own people and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the [Lord] your God.

35-36  t Use honest scales and don't cheat when you weigh or measure anything.
I am the [Lord] your God. I rescued you from Egypt, 37 and I command you to obey my laws.