Leviticus 19

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: You are holy, because I, your God YHWH, [am] holy.

“Speak to all the people of Israel and tell them this: You must be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy, [and I want you to be like me].

3 You each fear his mother and his father, and you keep My Sabbaths; I [am] your God YHWH.

‘Each of you must respect your father and your mother. And you must (honor/treat respectfully) the Sabbath days. I am Yahweh, your God, [and that is what I am commanding you to do].

4 You do not turn to the idols, and you do not make a molten god for yourselves; I [am] your God YHWH.

‘Do not worship idols or make metal statues of gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh, your God, [and I am the only one you must worship].

5 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of peace-offerings to YHWH, you sacrifice it at your pleasure;

‘Then you bring an offering to maintain fellowship with me, offer it in a way that will cause me to accept it.

6 it is eaten in the day of your sacrificing [it], and on the next day, and that which is left to the third day is burned with fire,

The meat should be eaten on the day that you sacrifice it, but you are permitted to eat some of it on the next day. Anything that remains until the third/next day must be completely burned.

7 and if it is really eaten on the third day, it [is] an abomination, it is not pleasing,

For any of it to be eaten on the third day is very displeasing to me, and I will not accept that offering.

8 and he who is eating it bears his iniquity, for he has defiled the holy thing of YHWH, and that person has been cut off from his people.

I will punish anyone who eats it [after the second day], because he will not have respected that what I say is holy. And that person must no longer be allowed to associate with my people.

9 And in your reaping the harvest of your land you do not completely reap the corner of your field, and you do not gather the gleaning of your harvest,

‘Then you harvest your grain, leave the grain at the very edge of the field, and do not pick up the grain that has fallen on the ground.

10 and you do not glean your vineyard, even the omitted part of your vineyard you do not gather, you leave them for the poor and for the sojourner; I [am] your God YHWH.

And when you harvest your grapes, do not go back a second time to try to harvest some more, and do not pick up the grapes that have fallen on the ground. Leave those things for the poor people and for foreigners who are living among you. I, Yahweh your God, [am commanding those things].

11 You do not steal, nor feign, nor lie—each against his fellow.

‘Do not steal anything. ‘Do not tell lies. ‘Do not deceive each other.

12 And you do not swear by My Name for falsehood, or you have defiled the Name of your God; I [am] YHWH.

‘Do not show that you do not respect me by using/saying my name to falsely promise that you will do something. [Do not forget that] I am Yahweh, your God.

13 You do not oppress your neighbor, nor take plunder; the wages of the hired worker do not remain with you until morning.

‘Do not cheat anyone or steal from anyone. [‘If you have agreed to] pay your workers at the end of the day, [do what you have promised]; do not keep those wages until the next day.

14 You do not revile the deaf; and you do not put a stumbling block before the blind; and you have been afraid of your God; I [am] YHWH.

‘Do not curse deaf people, and do not put things in the path of blind people to cause them to stumble.

15 You do not do perversity in judgment; you do not lift up the face of the poor, nor honor the face of the great; you judge your fellow in righteousness.

‘Always [LIT] judge people fairly [DOU]. Do not do special favors for either poor people or rich people.

16 You do not go slandering among your people; you do not stand against the blood of your neighbor; I [am] YHWH.

‘Do not spread false rumors about other people. ‘Do not say anything [in court] that would result in some [innocent] person being executed. I, Yahweh, [am commanding this].

17 You do not hate your brother in your heart; you certainly reprove your fellow, and do not permit sin on him.

‘Do not hate anyone. Instead, honestly rebuke those who ought to be rebuked, in order that you also will not be guilty.

18 You do not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of your people; and you have had love for your neighbor as yourself; I [am] YHWH.

‘Do not try to get revenge against someone or be angry with someone for a long time. Instead, love other people like you love yourself. I, Yahweh your God, [am commanding this].

19 You keep My statutes. You do not cause your livestock to mate [with] two kinds; you do not sow your field with two kinds; and a garment of two kinds, mixed material, does not go up on you.

‘Obey my laws. ‘Do not allow two different kinds of animals to mate with each other. ‘Do not plant two different kinds of seed in the [same] field. ‘Do not wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.

20 And when a man lies with a woman with seed [from] intercourse, and she [is] a maidservant, betrothed to a man, and not really ransomed, or freedom has not been given to her, there is an investigation; they are not put to death, for she [is] not free.

‘If a man has sex with a slave woman who has been promised to marry some other man, but she has not been bought by that man and is still a slave, the man who had sex with her must be punished. But because she is still a slave, she and the man who had sex with her must not be killed.

21 And he has brought in his guilt-offering to YHWH, to the opening of the Tent of Meeting, a ram [for] a guilt-offering,

However, that man must bring a ram to [be slaughtered at] the entrance of the Sacred Tent area, to be an offering in order that he no longer be guilty for his sin.

22 and the priest has made atonement for him with the ram of the guilt-offering before YHWH, for his sin which he has sinned, and it has been forgiven him because of his sin which he has sinned.

The priest will offer that ram to me in order that the man will be forgiven for the sin that he committed, and I will forgive him.

23 And when you come into the land and have planted all [kinds] of trees [for] food, then you have reckoned its fruit as uncircumcised, it is uncircumcised to you [for] three years, it is not eaten,

‘When you enter the land [that I have promised to give to you], and when you plant various kinds of fruit trees, you must not eat any of their fruit for three years [DOU].

24 and in the fourth year all its fruit is holy—praises for YHWH.

In the fourth year all of their fruit must be set aside to belong to me; it must be brought to me to be an offering to praise me.

25 And in the fifth year you eat its fruit—to add to you its increase; I [am] your God YHWH.

But in the fifth/next year, you will be permitted to eat their fruit. If you do that, your trees will produce much fruit. I, Yahweh your God, [am promising that].

26 You do not eat with the blood. You do not enchant, nor observe clouds.

‘Do not eat any meat that still has [the animal’s] blood in it. ‘Do not consult spirits to find out what will happen in the future, and do not practice sorcery.

27 You do not round the corner of your head, nor destroy the corner of your beard.

‘Do not shave the hair at the sides of your heads [like pagan people do].

28 And you do not put a cutting for the soul in your flesh; and a writing, a cross-mark, you do not put on yourself; I [am] YHWH.

‘Do not cut your bodies [when you are mourning] for people who have died, and do not put tattoos on your bodies. I, Yahweh your God, [am commanding this].

29 You do not defile your daughter to cause her to go whoring, that the land does not go whoring, and the land has been full of wickedness.

‘Do not disgrace your daughters by forcing them to become prostitutes. If you cause them to become prostitutes, soon the land will be filled with prostitutes and all other kinds of people’s wicked behavior.

30 You keep My Sabbaths and you revere My sanctuary; I [am] YHWH.

‘Honor my Sabbath days and revere my Sacred Tent, because I, Yahweh, [live there].

31 You do not turn to those having familiar spirits, and you do not seek for wizards, to become unclean by them; I [am] your God YHWH.

‘Do not seek advice from those who (consult/talk with) the spirits of dead people [DOU], because if you do that, they will defile you. I, Yahweh your God, [am the one you should consult].

32 You rise up at the presence of grey hairs, and you have honored the presence of an old man, and have been afraid of your God; I [am] YHWH.

‘Stand up when old people [enter the room], and show that you respect them, and also revere me, your God; [that is what] I, Yahweh, [am commanding].

33 And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you do not oppress him;

‘When foreigners live among you [in your land], do not mistreat them.

34 the sojourner who is sojourning with you is to you as a native among you, and you have had love for him as for yourself, for you have been sojourners in the land of Egypt; I [am] your God YHWH.

You must treat them like you treat your fellow-citizens. Love them like you love yourselves, and do not forget that once, when you were foreigners in Egypt, [you were badly mistreated by the people of Egypt]. I, Yahweh your God, [am commanding you to do this].

35 You do not do perversity in the judgment, in the measure, in the weight, and in the liquid measure;

‘When you are measuring things, to see how long they are or how much they weigh or how many there are,

36 you have righteous balances, righteous weights, a righteous ephah, and a righteous hin; I [am] your God YHWH, who has brought you out from the land of Egypt;

use correct [measuring sticks and] scales and weights [on the scales] and measuring baskets and other measuring containers. I Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, [am giving you these laws].

37 and you have observed all my statutes, and all my judgments, and have done them; I [am] YHWH.”

‘Obey carefully [DOU] all my laws and decrees, because I, Yahweh, [am the one who am commanding them].’”