< Leviticus 19 >
1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 “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].
“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
3 ‘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].
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
4 ‘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].
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
5 ‘Then you bring an offering to maintain fellowship with me, offer it in a way that will cause me to accept it.
When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance.
6 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.
It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up.
7 For any of it to be eaten on the third day is very displeasing to me, and I will not accept that offering.
If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted.
8 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.
Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.
9 ‘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.
When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10 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].
You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
11 ‘Do not steal anything. ‘Do not tell lies. ‘Do not deceive each other.
You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.
12 ‘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.
You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13 ‘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.
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
14 ‘Do not curse deaf people, and do not put things in the path of blind people to cause them to stumble.
You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
15 ‘Always [LIT] judge people fairly [DOU]. Do not do special favors for either poor people or rich people.
You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
16 ‘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].
You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
17 ‘Do not hate anyone. Instead, honestly rebuke those who ought to be rebuked, in order that you also will not be guilty.
You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
18 ‘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].
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
19 ‘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.
You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
20 ‘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.
If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.
21 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.
The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as his guilt offering to the LORD.
22 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.
The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed.
23 ‘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].
When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.
24 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.
In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD.
25 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].
But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.
26 ‘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.
You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
27 ‘Do not shave the hair at the sides of your heads [like pagan people do].
You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
28 ‘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].
You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
29 ‘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.
You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
30 ‘Honor my Sabbath days and revere my Sacred Tent, because I, Yahweh, [live there].
You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
31 ‘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].
You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
32 ‘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].
You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.
33 ‘When foreigners live among you [in your land], do not mistreat them.
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
34 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].
You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
35 ‘When you are measuring things, to see how long they are or how much they weigh or how many there are,
You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.
36 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].
You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 ‘Obey carefully [DOU] all my laws and decrees, because I, Yahweh, [am the one who am commanding them].’”
You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and follow them. I am the LORD.”