< Leviticus 19 >
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and 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 You shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and 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 Turn you not to idols, nor 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 offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it at your own will.
When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, make sure you do it correctly so God will accept you.
6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the morrow: and if any remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the 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 be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; 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 Therefore every one that eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his 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 wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
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 glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and 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, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't deceive each other.
12 And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
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 defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night 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 curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
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 do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
Don't be a corrupt judge. Don't show favoritism to the poor or to the rich. Judge others fairly.
16 You shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people: neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
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 neighbor, and not suffer sin on him.
Don't hold onto hateful feelings towards others. Talk honestly with your neighbors, so that you don't sin because of them.
18 You shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor 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 keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle engender with a diverse kind: you shall not sow your field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come on you.
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 whoever lies carnally with a woman, that is a female slave, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
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 his trespass offering to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even 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 an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he has done: and the sin which he has done 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 when you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised to you: it shall not be eaten of.
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 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD with.
The fourth year all the fruit must be dedicated to the Lord as a praise offering.
25 And in the fifth year shall you eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield to you the increase thereof: 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 You shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall you use enchantment, nor observe times.
Don't eat meat with blood in it. Don't use fortune-telling or witchcraft.
27 You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shall you mar the corners of your beard.
Don't cut your hair on the sides of your head or trim the sides of your beard,
28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks on you: I am the LORD.
don't cut your bodies in some pagan ritual for the dead, and don't get yourselves tattoos. I am the Lord.
29 Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
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 sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Keep my Sabbaths and show respect for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by 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 honor the face of the old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.
Stand up and be respectful of older people. Show reverence for your God. I am the Lord.
33 And if a stranger sojourn with you in your land, you shall not vex him.
Don't mistreat foreigners who live in your country.
34 But the stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, 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 do no unrighteousness in judgment, in length, in weight, or in measure.
Don't use dishonest weights and measures.
36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall you have: I am the LORD your God, which 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 Therefore shall you observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.
Keep all my rules and regulations, and make sure you follow them. I am the Lord.”