Moral and Ceremonial Laws

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: a‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

3 b‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ckeep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

4 d‘Do not turn to idols, enor make for yourselves 1molded gods: I am the Lord your God.

5 ‘And fif you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

9 g‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

11 h‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, inor lie to one another. 12 And you shall not jswear by My name falsely, knor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

13 l‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. mThe wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nnor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

15 ‘You shall do no injustice in ojudgment. You shall not pbe partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a qtalebearer among your people; nor shall you rtake a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

17 s‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. tYou shall surely 2rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 uYou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, vbut you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is wbetrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be 3scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make 4atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

23 ‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as 5uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. 25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.

26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not xmake any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

29 y‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

30 ‘You shall 6keep My Sabbaths and zreverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after athem, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 b‘You shall 7rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and cfear your God: I am the Lord.

33 ‘And dif a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 eThe stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as 8one born among you, and fyou shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall have ghonest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 h‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ”

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 a“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: b‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who 1dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall cstone him with stones. 3 dI will set My face against that man, and will 2cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should in any way 3hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

6 ‘And ethe person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 fConsecrate 4yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 And you shall keep gMy statutes, and perform them: hI am the Lord who 5sanctifies you.

9 ‘For ieveryone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. jHis blood shall be upon him.

10 k‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. 11 The man who lies with his lfather’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 12 If a man lies with his mdaughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. 13 nIf a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 14 If a man marries a woman and her omother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a man mates with an panimal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

17 ‘If a man takes his qsister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be 6cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his 7guilt. 18 rIf a man lies with a woman during her 8sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has 9exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be 1cut off from their people.

19 ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your smother’s sister nor of your tfather’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. 20 If a man lies with his uuncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his vbrother’s wife, it is an 2unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

22 ‘You shall therefore keep all My wstatutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell xmay not vomit you out. 23 yAnd you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and ztherefore I abhor them. 24 But aI have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, bwho has separated you from the peoples. 25 cYou shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, dand you shall not make yourselves 3abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as 4unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, efor I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

27 f‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

Regulations for Conduct of Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: a‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; 3 also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. 4 Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a 1chief man among his people, to profane himself.

5 b‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be choly to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the dbread of their God; etherefore they shall be holy. 7 fThey shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled