Leviticus 19

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God [am] holy.

“Tell all the Israelites: You must be holy because I am holy; I am the Lord your God.

3 Let every one of you reverence his father and his mother; and you shall keep my sabbaths: I [am] the Lord your God.

Show respect for your mother and father, and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

4 You shall not follow idols, and you shall not make to yourselves molten gods: I [am] the Lord your God.

Don't turn to idols for help or make for metal images of gods. I am the Lord your God.

5 And if you will sacrifice a peace-offering to the Lord, you shall offer it acceptable from yourselves.

When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, make sure you do it correctly so God will accept you.

6 In what day soever you shall sacrifice it, it shall be eaten; and on the following day, and if any of it should be left till the third day, it shall be thoroughly burnt with fire.

It needs to be eaten the day you sacrifice it, or the next day. Whatever is left over on the third day must be burned.

7 And if it should be at all eaten on the third day, it is unfit for sacrifice: it shall not be accepted.

If you do eat some of it on the third day, the sacrifice becomes repulsive and won't be accepted.

8 And he that eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy things of the Lord; and the souls that eat it shall be destroyed from amongst their people.

Anyone who eats it eats it will bear responsibility for their guilt, for they have made unclean what is holy to the Lord. They must be expelled from their people.

9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not complete the reaping of your field with exactness, and you shall not gather that which falls from your reaping.

When you harvest the crops grown on your land, don't harvest right up to the edges of your field, or collect what has been missed.

10 And you shall not go over the gathering of your vineyard, neither shall you gather the remaining grapes of your vineyard: you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

Don't take every last grape from your vineyard or pick up the ones that have fallen. Leave them for the poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.

11 You shall not steal, you shall not lie, neither shall one bear false witness as an informer against his neighbour.

Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't deceive each other.

12 And you shall not swear unjustly by my name, and you shall not profane the holy name of your God: I am the Lord your God.

Don't swear oaths in my name that are not true, otherwise you defame the character of your God. I am the Lord.

13 You shall not injure your neighbour, neither do you rob [him], neither shall the wages of your hireling remain with you until the morning.

Don't cheat others or rob them. Don't refuse to pay wages due to workers until the morning.

14 You shall not revile the deaf, neither shall you put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; and you shall fear the Lord your God: I am the Lord your God.

Don't speak badly about deaf people. Don't put objects in the way of blind people to trip them up. Instead show respect to your God. I am the Lord.

15 You shall not act unjustly in judgement: you shall not accept the person of the poor, nor admire the person of the mighty; with justice shall you judge your neighbour.

Don't be a corrupt judge. Don't show favoritism to the poor or to the rich. Judge others fairly.

16 You shall not walk deceitfully amongst your people; you shall not rise up against the blood of your neighbour: I am the Lord your God.

Don't go around spreading false rumors about people. Don't keep quiet when the lives of others are at risk. I am the Lord.

17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart: you shall in any wise rebuke your neighbour, so you shall not bear sin on his account.

Don't hold onto hateful feelings towards others. Talk honestly with your neighbors, so that you don't sin because of them.

18 And your hand shall not avenge you; and you shall not be angry with the children of your people; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord.

Don't look for revenge or hold a grudge against anybody, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

19 You shall observe my law: you shall not let your cattle gender with one of a different kind, and you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse seed; and you shall not put upon yourself a mingled garment woven of two [materials].

Do what I tell you! Don't make different kinds of livestock breed together. Don't sow your fields with two different kinds of seed. Don't wear clothes made of two different kinds of material.

20 And if any one lie carnally with a woman, and she should be a home-servant kept for a man, and she has not been ransomed, [and] her freedom has not been given to her, they shall be visited [with punishment]; but they shall not die, because she was not set at liberty.

If a man has sex with a servant girl promised to become another man's wife, but who hasn't yet been bought or set free, then compensation has to be paid. However, they are not to be killed, because she hadn't been set free.

21 And he shall bring for his trespass to the Lord to the door of the tabernacle of witness, a ram for a trespass-offering.

But the man must bring a ram as his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering, before the Lord, for the sin which he sinned; and the sin which he sinned shall be forgiven him.

The priest will set things right for him before the Lord using the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven.

23 And whenever you shall enter into the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall plant any fruit tree, then shall you purge away its uncleanness; its fruit shall be three years uncleansed to you, it shall not be eaten.

When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, treat the fruit at first as unclean. For three years you are forbidden to eat it.

24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a subject of praise to the Lord.

The fourth year all the fruit must be dedicated to the Lord as a praise offering.

25 And in the fifth year you shall eat the fruit, its produce is an increase to you. I am the Lord your God.

However, the fifth year you may eat the fruit and in this way you will have an even greater harvest. I am the Lord your God.

26 Eat not on the mountains, nor shall you employ auguries, nor divine by inspection of birds.

Don't eat meat with blood in it. Don't use fortune-telling or witchcraft.

27 You shall not make a round cutting of the hair of your head, nor disfigure your beard.

Don't cut your hair on the sides of your head or trim the sides of your beard,

28 And you shall not make cuttings in your body for a [dead] body, and you shall not inscribe on yourselves any marks. I am the Lord your God.

don't cut your bodies in some pagan ritual for the dead, and don't get yourselves tattoos. I am the Lord.

29 You shall not profane your daughter to prostitute her; so the land shall not go a whoring, and the land be filled with iniquity.

Don't bring shame on your daughter by making her a prostitute, otherwise the land will become morally and spiritually depraved.

30 You shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuaries: I am the Lord.

Keep my Sabbaths and show respect for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

31 You shall not attend to those who have in them divining spirits, nor attach yourselves to enchanters, to pollute yourselves with them: I am the Lord your God.

Don't try and find help from mediums or spiritists—don't even go looking for them, otherwise they will corrupt you. I am the Lord your God.

32 You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and shall fear your God: I am the Lord your God.

Stand up and be respectful of older people. Show reverence for your God. I am the Lord.

33 And if there should come to you a stranger in your land, you shall not afflict him.

Don't mistreat foreigners who live in your country.

34 The stranger that comes to you shall be amongst you as the native, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Treat them in the same way as a fellow citizen, and love them as you love yourself, because you were once foreigners living in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

35 You shall not act unrighteously in judgement, in measures and weights and scales.

Don't use dishonest weights and measures.

36 There shall be amongst you just balances and just weights and just liquid measure. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Make sure your scales and weights are accurate, that your measures of ephah and hin are correct. I am the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt.

37 And you shall keep all my law and all my ordinances, and you shall do them: I am the Lord your God.

Keep all my rules and regulations, and make sure you follow them. I am the Lord.”