< Leviticus 19 >
1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 entire assembly of the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: Be holy, for 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].
Let each one fear his father and his mother. Observe 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 be willing to convert to idols, neither should you make molten gods for yourselves. 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.
If you immolate a victim of peace offerings to the Lord, so that he may be appeased,
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.
you shall eat it on the same day as when it was immolated, and the next day. Then whatever will remain on the third day you shall burn with fire.
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 anyone, after two days, will have eaten from it, he shall be profane and guilty of impiety.
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.
And he shall bear his iniquity, for he has polluted what is holy to the Lord. And that soul shall perish 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 will have harvested the grain fields of your land, you shall not cut it down to the surface of the land, even to the ground, nor shall you gather the remaining ears of grain.
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].
Neither shall you gather the clusters or individual grapes which fall down in your vineyard, but you shall leave them for paupers and travelers to take. I am the Lord your God.
11 ‘Do not steal anything. ‘Do not tell lies. ‘Do not deceive each other.
You shall not steal. You shall not lie. Neither shall anyone deceive his neighbor.
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 shall not commit perjury in my name, nor shall you pollute 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 shall not slander your neighbor, nor shall you oppress him by violence. The wages of a hired hand, you shall not delay with you until tomorrow.
14 ‘Do not curse deaf people, and do not put things in the path of blind people to cause them to stumble.
You shall not speak evil of the deaf, nor shall you place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear the Lord your God, for I am the Lord.
15 ‘Always [LIT] judge people fairly [DOU]. Do not do special favors for either poor people or rich people.
You shall not do what is unjust, nor shall you judge unjustly. You shall not consider the reputation of the poor, nor shall you honor the countenance of the powerful. Judge your neighbor justly.
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 shall not be a detractor, nor a whisperer, among the people. You shall not stand against the blood 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 shall not hate your brother in your heart, but reprove him openly, lest you have sin over 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, neither should you be mindful of the injury of your fellow citizens. You shall love your friend 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.
Observe my laws. You shall not cause your cattle to breed with other kinds of animals. You shall not sow your field with diverse seeds. You shall not be clothed with a garment which has been woven from two things.
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 will have slept in sexual intercourse with a woman, who is a servant and who is also able to be married, and yet he has not redeemed her with a price, nor paid to set her free, they both shall be beaten, but they shall not die, for she was not a free woman.
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.
But, for his offense, he shall offer a ram to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
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.
And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, before the Lord, and he shall win his favor again for him, and the sin shall be forgiven.
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 will have entered into the land, and will have planted in it fruit trees, you shall take away their first-fruits; the fruit that germinates shall be unclean to you, neither shall you eat from these.
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.
But in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sanctified for the praise of 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].
And in the fifth year you shall eat the produce, gathering the fruits which are brought forth. 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 shall not eat with blood. You shall not practice divination, nor the observation of dreams.
27 ‘Do not shave the hair at the sides of your heads [like pagan people do].
And you shall not cut the hair of your head circularly, nor shave 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 shall not cut your flesh for the dead, and you shall not make other figures or marks on yourself. 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.
Do not prostitute your daughter, lest the land be contaminated and filled with crimes.
30 ‘Honor my Sabbath days and revere my Sacred Tent, because I, Yahweh, [live there].
Observe my Sabbaths, and be apprehensive toward 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].
Do not turn aside to astrologers, nor consult with soothsayers, so as to be polluted through 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].
Rise up in the presence of a gray-haired head, and honor the reputation of an elder, and fear the Lord your God. I am the Lord.
33 ‘When foreigners live among you [in your land], do not mistreat them.
If a newcomer lives in your land and abides among you, do not reproach 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].
but let him be among you like one native born. And you shall love him as yourselves. For you were also newcomers 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,
Do not be willing to accomplish iniquity in judgment, in lengths, in weights, in quantities.
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].
Let the scales be just and the weights equal, let the dry measure be just and the liquid measure be equal. I am the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt.
37 ‘Obey carefully [DOU] all my laws and decrees, because I, Yahweh, [am the one who am commanding them].’”
Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments, and accomplish them. I am the Lord.