Chapter 19

Idolatry Forbidden

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘aYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

3 ‘Every one of you ashall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep bMy sabbaths; cI am the Lord your God.

4 ‘Do not turn to aidols or make for yourselves molten bgods; I am the Lord your God.

5 ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

6 ‘It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire.

7 ‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted.

8 ‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Sundry Laws

9 ‘aNow when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.

10 ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

11 ‘aYou shall not steal, nor deal falsely, bnor lie to one another.

12 ‘aYou shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to bprofane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

13 ‘aYou shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. bThe wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.

14 ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor aplace a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

15 ‘aYou shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

16 ‘You shall not go about as aa slanderer among your people, and you are not to 1act against the 2blife of your neighbor; I am the Lord.

17 ‘You ashall not hate your 1fellow countryman in your heart; you bmay surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

18 ‘aYou shall not take vengeance, bnor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but cyou shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

19 ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; ayou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

20 ‘aNow if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free.

21 ‘He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, aa ram for a guilt offering.

22 ‘The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

23 ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as 1forbidden. Three years it shall be 1forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

24 ‘But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.

25 ‘In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

26 ‘You shall not eat anything awith the blood, nor practice bdivination or soothsaying.

27 ‘aYou shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.

28 ‘You shall not make any cuts in your 1body for the 2dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 ‘aDo not 1profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness.

30 ‘You shall akeep My sabbaths and brevere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

31 ‘Do not turn to 1amediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

32 ‘aYou shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the 1aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

33 ‘aWhen a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

34 ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ayou shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

35 ‘aYou shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity.

36 ‘You shall have ajust balances, just weights, a just 1ephah, and a just 2hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

37 ‘You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.’ ”