Leviticus 19

Living Bible

19 ^1-2 The Lord also told Moses to tell the people of Israel, “You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. You must respect your mothers and fathers, and obey my Sabbath law, for I am the Lord your God. ^3-4 Do not make or worship idols, for I am Jehovah your God.

⁵ “When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it correctly so that it will be accepted: ⁶ Eat it the same day you offer it, or the next day at the latest; any remaining until the third day must be burned. ⁷ For any of it eaten on the third day is repulsive to me and will not be accepted. ⁸ If you eat it on the third day, you are guilty, for you profane the holiness of Jehovah, and you shall be excommunicated from Jehovah’s people.

⁹ “When you harvest your crops, don’t reap the corners of your fields, and don’t pick up stray grains of wheat from the ground. ¹⁰ It is the same with your grape crop—don’t strip every last piece of fruit from the vines, and don’t pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for those traveling through, for I am Jehovah your God.

¹¹ “You must not steal nor lie nor defraud. ¹² You must not swear to a falsehood, thus bringing reproach upon the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.

¹³ “You shall not rob nor oppress anyone, and you shall pay your hired workers promptly. If something is due them, don’t even keep it overnight.

¹⁴ “You must not curse the deaf nor trip up a blind man as he walks. Fear your God; I am Jehovah!

¹⁵ “Judges must always be just in their sentences, not noticing whether a person is poor or rich; they must always be perfectly fair.

¹⁶ “Don’t gossip. Don’t falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime,^[a] for I am Jehovah.

¹⁷ “Don’t hate your brother. Rebuke anyone who sins; don’t let him get away with it, or you will be equally guilty. ¹⁸ Don’t seek vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge; but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Jehovah.

¹⁹ “Obey my laws: Do not mate your cattle with a different kind; don’t sow your field with two kinds of seed; don’t wear clothes made of half wool and half linen.

²⁰ “If a man seduces a slave girl^[b] who is engaged to be married, they shall be tried in a court but not put to death, because she is not free. ²¹ The man involved shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the offering shall be a ram. ²² The priest shall make atonement with the ram for the sin the man has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

²³ “When you enter the land and have planted all kinds of fruit trees, do not eat the first three crops, for they are considered ceremonially defiled.^{[c] 24} And the fourth year the entire crop shall be devoted to the Lord, and shall be given to the Lord in praise to him. ²⁵ Finally, in the fifth year, the crop is yours.

²⁶ “I am Jehovah your God! You must not eat meat with undrained blood nor use fortune-telling or witchcraft.

²⁷ “You must not trim off your hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beard, as the heathen do.^{[d] 28} You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.

²⁹ “Do not violate your daughter’s sanctity by making her a prostitute, lest the land become full of enormous wickedness.

³⁰ “Keep my Sabbath laws and reverence my Tabernacle, for I am the Lord.

³¹ “Do not defile yourselves by consulting mediums and wizards, for I am Jehovah your God.

³² “You shall give due honor and respect to the elderly, in the fear of God. I am Jehovah.

³³ “Do not take advantage of foreigners in your land; do not wrong them. ³⁴ They must be treated like any other citizen; love them as yourself, for remember that you too were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.

^35-36 “You must be impartial in judgment. Use accurate measurements—lengths, weights, and volumes—and give full measure, for I am Jehovah your God who brought you from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You must heed all of my commandments and ordinances, carefully obeying them, for I am Jehovah.”