^19:13You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him.¹⁸ You must not withhold¹⁹ the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. ^19:14You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.²⁰ You must fear²¹ your God; I am the Lord.

Justice, Love, and Propriety

^19:15“ ‘You²² must not deal unjustly in judgment:²³ you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich.²⁴ You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.²⁵^19:16You must not go about as a slanderer among your people.²⁶ You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake.²⁷ I am the Lord. ^19:17You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.²⁸^19:18You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge²⁹ against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself.³⁰ I am the Lord.

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Leviticus 19:18: You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Footnotes

18 Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”
19 Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. “keep for yourself”).
20 Heb “You shall not curse a deaf [person] and before a blind [person] you shall not put a stumbling block.”
21 Heb “And you shall fear.” Many English versions (e.g., , , , , ) regard the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) as adversative in force here (“but”).
22 has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the , which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.
23 Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” ( similar); cf. “do not pervert justice.”
24 Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
25 Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
26 The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so , , ; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; 940 רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious ( II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”
27 Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
28 Heb “and you will not lift up on him sin.” The meaning of the line is somewhat obscure. It means either (1) that one should rebuke one’s neighbor when he sins lest one also becomes guilty, which is the way it is rendered here (see , , , ; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and the discussion on pp. ), or (2) one may rebuke one’s neighbor without incurring sin just as long as he does not hate him in his heart (see the first part of the verse; cf. , ).
29 Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
30 Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and esp. ). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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

“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. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

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

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

“ ‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

“ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

“ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

“ ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.

“ ‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am the Lord.

“Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people; do not jeopardize your neighbor’s life; I am the Lord.

“Do not harbor hatred against your brother. Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him. Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

“Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.

“Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.

“Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

“Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.

“Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.

“Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob him; a hired worker’s wage you shall not withhold overnight until morning. You shall not curse the deaf, and you shall not put a stumbling block before a blind person, but you shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

“ ‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the powerless; you shall not give preference to the powerful; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice. You shall not go about with slander among your people; you shall not endanger your neighbor’s life; I am Yahweh.

“ ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow citizen, so that you do not incur sin along with him. You shall not seek vengeance, and you shall not harbor a grudge against your fellow citizens; and you shall love your neighbor like yourself; I am Yahweh.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

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