Leviticus 19

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

2 'Speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Ye are holy, for holy [am] I, Jehovah, your God.

“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 'Each his mother and his father ye do fear, and My sabbaths ye do keep; I [am] Jehovah your God.

‘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 'Ye do not turn unto the idols, and a molten god ye do not make to yourselves; I [am] Jehovah your God.

‘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 ye sacrifice a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Jehovah, at your pleasure ye do sacrifice it;

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

6 in the day of your sacrificing it is eaten, and on the morrow, and that which is left unto the third day with fire is burnt,

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 be 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 his iniquity doth bear, for the holy thing of Jehovah he hath polluted, and that person hath 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 ye do not completely reap the corner of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou dost not gather,

‘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 thy vineyard thou dost not glean, even the omitted part of thy vineyard thou dost not gather, to the poor and to the sojourner thou dost leave them; I [am] Jehovah your God.

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 'Ye do not steal, nor feign, nor lie one against his fellow.

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

12 'And ye do not swear by My name to falsehood, or thou hast polluted the name of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.

‘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 'Thou dost not oppress thy neighbour, nor take plunder; the wages of the hireling doth not remain with thee till 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 'Thou dost not revile the deaf; and before the blind thou dost not put a stumbling block; and thou hast been afraid of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.

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

15 'Ye do not do perversity in judgment; thou dost not lift up the face of the poor, nor honour the face of the great; in righteousness thou dost judge thy fellow.

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

16 'Thou dost not go slandering among thy people; thou dost not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I [am] Jehovah.

‘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 'Thou dost not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou dost certainly reprove thy fellow, and not suffer 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 'Thou dost not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of thy people; and thou hast had love to thy neighbour as thyself; I [am] Jehovah.

‘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 'My statutes ye do keep: thy cattle thou dost not cause to gender [with] diverse kinds; thy field thou dost not sow with diverse kinds, and a garment of diverse kinds, shaatnez, doth not go up upon thee.

‘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 lieth with a woman with seed of copulation, and she a maid-servant, betrothed to a man, and not really ransomed, or freedom hath not been given to her, an investigation there is; 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 hath brought in his guilt-offering to Jehovah, unto 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 hath made atonement for him with the ram of the guilt-offering before Jehovah, for his sin which he hath sinned, and it hath been forgiven him because of his sin which he hath 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 ye come in unto the land, and have planted all [kinds] of trees [for] food, then ye have reckoned as uncircumcised its fruit, three years it is to you uncircumcised, 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 Jehovah.

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 ye do eat its fruit — to add to you its increase; I [am] Jehovah your God.

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 'Ye do not eat with the blood; ye 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 'Ye do not round the corner of your head, nor destroy the corner of thy beard.

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

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

‘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 'Thou dost not pollute thy daughter to cause her to go a-whoring, that the land go not a-whoring, and the land hath 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 'My sabbaths ye do keep, and My sanctuary ye do reverence; I [am] Jehovah.

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

31 'Ye do not turn unto those having familiar spirits; and unto wizards ye do not seek, for uncleanness by them; I [am] Jehovah your God.

‘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 'At the presence of grey hairs thou dost rise up, and thou hast honoured the presence of an old man, and hast been afraid of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.

‘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 sojourneth with thee in your land, thou dost not oppress him;

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

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

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 'Ye do not do perversity in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight, or in liquid measure;

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

36 righteous balances, righteous weights, a righteous ephah, and a righteous hin ye have; I [am] Jehovah your God, who hath 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 ye have observed all my statutes, and all my judgments, and have done them; I [am] Jehovah.'

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