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 all the congregation of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: Be ye 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].
Let every one fear his father, and his mother. 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].
Turn ye not to idols, nor make to 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.
If ye offer in sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, that he may be favourable,
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 it was offered, and the next day: and whatsoever shall be left until 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 after two days ally man eat thereof, 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 shall bear his iniquity, because he hath defiled the holy thing of the Lord, and that soul shall perish from among 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 thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt thou gather the ears that remain.
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 shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down in thy vineyard, but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers 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 any man deceive his neighbour.
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.
Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of thy 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.
Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by violence. The wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide with thee until the morning.
14 ‘Do not curse deaf people, and do not put things in the path of blind people to cause them to stumble.
Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind: but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the Lord.
15 ‘Always [LIT] judge people fairly [DOU]. Do not do special favors for either poor people or rich people.
Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice.
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].
Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour. 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.
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through 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].
Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. 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.
Keep ye my laws. Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with beasts of any other kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with different seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts.
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 carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they both shall be scourged, and they shall not be put to death, because 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.
And for his trespass 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 have mercy on 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 shall be come into the land, and shall have planted in it fruit trees, you shall take away the firstfruits of them: the fruit that comes forth shall be unclean to you, neither shall you eat of them.
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, to 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 fruits thereof, gathering the increase thereof. 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 divine nor observe dreams.
27 ‘Do not shave the hair at the sides of your heads [like pagan people do].
Nor shall you cut your hair roundwise: 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 make any cuttings in your flesh, for the dead, neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks: 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.
Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be defiled, and filled with wickedness.
30 ‘Honor my Sabbath days and revere my Sacred Tent, because I, Yahweh, [live there].
Keep ye my sabbaths, and reverence 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].
Go not aside after wizards, neither ask any thing of soothsayers, to 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].
Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the person of the aged man: and fear the Lord thy God. I am the Lord.
33 ‘When foreigners live among you [in your land], do not mistreat them.
If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not upbraid 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 as one of the same country: and you shall love him as yourselves: for you were strangers 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 any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in measure.
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 balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just, and the sextary equal. I am the Lord your God, that 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].’”
Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments, and do them. I am the Lord.
