Leviticus 19–20

The Lord Is Holy

19And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ^tYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ^3uEvery one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^vyou shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. ^4wDo not turn to idols ^xor make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

^5y“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so ^zthat you may be accepted. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is ^atainted; it will not be accepted, ⁸and everyone who eats it shall ^bbear his iniquity, because ^che has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

^9d“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. ¹⁰And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

^11e“You shall not steal; ^fyou shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. ^12gYou shall not swear by my name falsely, and so ^hprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

¹³ⁱ“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. ^jThe wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. ^14kYou shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall ^lfear your God: I am the Lord.

^15m“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶ⁿYou shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not ^ostand up against the life¹ of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

^17p“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but ^qyou shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you ^rincur sin because of him. ^18sYou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but ^tyou shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

^19u“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. ^vYou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

²⁰“If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; ²¹but ^whe shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. ²²And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

²³“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.² Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. ²⁴And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.

^26x“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. ^yYou shall not interpret omens or ^ztell fortunes. ^27aYou shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸You shall not make any ^bcuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

^29c“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. ^30dYou shall keep my Sabbaths and ^ereverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

^31f“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

^32g“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall ^hfear your God: I am the Lord.

³³ⁱ“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ^34jYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and ^kyou shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

^35l“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. ^36mYou shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷And ⁿyou shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Say to the people of Israel, ^oAny one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. ^3pI myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary ^qunclean and ^rto profane my holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not ^sput him to death, ⁵then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ^twhoring after Molech.

⁶“If ^ua person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, ^vI will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ^7wConsecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ^8xKeep my statutes and do them; ^yI am the Lord who sanctifies you. ⁹For ^zanyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; ^ahis blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

¹⁰“If a ^bman commits adultery with the wife of¹ his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ^11cIf a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ^12dIf a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^eperversion; their blood is upon them. ^13fIf a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ^14gIf a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. ^15hIf a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ^16hIf a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

¹⁷ⁱ“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. ^18jIf a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19kYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked ^lone’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. ^20mIf a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹ⁿIf a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity.² He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

^22o“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not ^pvomit you out. ^23qAnd you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. ²⁴But ^rI have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land ^sflowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, ^twho has separated you from the peoples. ^25uYou shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. ^26vYou shall be holy to me, ^wfor I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

^27x“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be ^ystoned with stones; ^ztheir blood shall be upon them.”