Leviticus 19

New International Reader’s Version

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,2 ‘Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them, “Be holy, because I am holy. I am the LORD your God.3 ‘ “All of you must have respect for your mother and father. You must always keep my Sabbath days. I am the LORD your God.4 ‘ “Do not turn away from me to worship statues of gods. Do not make for yourselves metal statues of gods. I am the LORD your God.5 ‘ “Suppose you sacrifice a friendship offering to me. Then do it in the right way. And I will accept it from you.6 You must eat it on the same day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything left over until the third day must be burned.7 If you eat any of it on the third day, it is not pure. I will not accept it.8 Whoever eats it will be held responsible. They have misused what is holy to me. They will be separated from their people.9 ‘ “Suppose you are harvesting your crops. Then do not harvest all the way to the edges of your field. And do not pick up the corn you missed.10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for poor people and outsiders. I am the LORD your God.11 ‘ “Do not steal. ‘ “Do not tell lies. ‘ “Do not cheat one another.12 ‘ “Do not give your word in my name and then be a false witness. That would be treating the name of your God as if it were not holy. I am the LORD.13 ‘ “Do not cheat your neighbour. Do not rob him. ‘ “Do not hold back the pay of a hired worker until morning.14 ‘ “Do not ask for bad things to happen to deaf people. Do not put anything in front of blind people that will make them trip. Instead, have respect for me. I am the LORD your God.15 ‘ “Do not make something wrong appear to be right. Treat poor people and rich people in the same way. Do not favour one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly.16 ‘ “Do not go around spreading lies among your people. ‘ “Do not do anything that puts your neighbour’s life in danger. I am the LORD.17 ‘ “Do not hate another Israelite in your heart. Correct your neighbour boldly when they do something wrong. Then you will not share their guilt.18 ‘ “Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbour as you love yourself. I am the LORD.19 ‘ “Obey my rules. ‘ “Do not let different kinds of animals mate with each other. ‘ “Do not mix two kinds of seeds and then plant them in your field. ‘ “Do not wear clothes that are made out of two kinds of cloth.20 ‘ “Suppose a man sleeps with a female slave. But she and another man have promised to get married to each other. And her freedom has not yet been paid for or given to her. Then she and the man who slept with her must be punished. But they must not be put to death, because she had not been set free.21 The man must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting. It is for a guilt offering to me.22 The priest must take the ram for the guilt offering. He must sacrifice it to pay for the man’s sin in my sight. Then his sin will be forgiven.23 ‘ “When you enter the land, suppose you plant a fruit tree. Then do not eat its fruit for the first three years. The fruit is ‘unclean’.24 In the fourth year all the fruit will be holy. Offer it as a way of showing praise to me.25 But in the fifth year you can eat the fruit. Then you will gather more and more fruit. I am the LORD your God.26 ‘ “Do not eat any meat that still has blood in it. ‘ “Do not practise any kind of evil magic.27 ‘ “Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head. Do not clip off the edges of your beard.28 ‘ “Do not make cuts on your bodies when someone dies. Do not put marks on your skin. I am the LORD.29 ‘ “Do not dishonour your daughter’s body by making a prostitute out of her. If you do, the Israelites will start going to prostitutes. The land will be filled with evil.30 ‘ “You must always keep my Sabbath days. Have respect for my sacred tent. I am the LORD.31 ‘ “Do not look for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Do not go to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. If you do, they will make you ‘unclean’. I am the LORD your God.32 ‘ “Stand up in order to show your respect for old people. Also have respect for me. I am the LORD your God.33 ‘ “Suppose an outsider lives with you in your land. Then do not treat them badly.34 Treat them as if they were one of your own people. Love them as you love yourself. Remember that all of you were outsiders in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.35 ‘ “Be honest when you measure lengths, weights or amounts.36 Use honest scales and honest weights. Use honest dry measures. And use honest liquid measures. I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt.37 ‘ “Obey all my rules and laws. Follow them. I am the LORD.” ’

Leviticus 19

English Standard Version

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. (Le 11:44)3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. (Ex 20:8; Ex 20:12)4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God. (Ex 20:3; Ex 34:17; Le 26:1; De 27:15; 1Jo 5:21)5 “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. (Le 1:3; Le 7:15; Le 22:19)6 It 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.7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, (Le 7:18)8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people. (Le 5:1; Le 22:15)9 “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. (Le 23:22; De 24:19; Ru 2:15)10 And 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.11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. (Ex 20:15; Le 6:2; Eph 4:15; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9)12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. (Ex 20:7; Le 18:21)13 “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. (Le 6:2; De 24:14; Mal 3:5; Jas 5:4)14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. (Le 19:32; Le 25:17; De 27:18; Ec 5:7; Ec 12:13; 1Pe 2:17)15 “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. (Ex 23:2; De 1:17; De 16:19; De 27:19; 2Ch 19:6; Ps 82:2; Pr 24:23; Jas 2:9)16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life[1] of your neighbor: I am the Lord. (Ex 23:1; Ex 23:7; 1Ki 21:10; Pr 11:13; Pr 20:19; Mt 26:60; Ac 6:11)17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. (Le 22:16; Pr 27:5; Mt 18:15; Lu 17:3; Ro 1:32; Ga 6:1; Eph 5:11; 1Ti 5:22; 1Jo 2:9; 1Jo 2:11; 1Jo 3:15; 2Jo 1:11)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. (Pr 20:22; Mt 5:43; Mt 19:19; Mt 22:39; Mr 12:31; Lu 10:27; Ro 12:17; Ro 12:19; Ro 13:9; Ga 5:14; Heb 10:30; Jas 2:8)19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. (Le 18:4; De 22:9)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;21 but he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. (Le 5:15; Le 6:6)22 And 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.24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. (Le 3:17; De 18:10; 2Ki 17:17; 2Ki 21:6; 2Ch 33:6)27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. (Le 21:5; Isa 15:2; Jer 9:26; Jer 48:37)28 You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord. (Le 21:1; Le 21:4; De 14:1; 1Ki 18:28; Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5; Jer 47:5; Jer 48:37)29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. (De 23:17)30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. (Ex 20:8; Le 19:3; Le 26:2; Ec 5:1; Mt 21:12; Mr 11:15; Lu 19:45; Joh 2:14)31 “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. (Ex 22:18; Le 20:6; Le 20:27; De 18:11; 1Sa 28:3; 1Sa 28:7; 1Sa 28:9; 1Ch 10:13; Isa 8:19; Ac 16:16)32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. (Le 19:14; Pr 20:29; La 5:12)33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. (Ex 22:21; Ex 23:9; Mal 3:5)34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Le 16:29; Le 19:18; De 10:19)35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. (Le 19:15)36 You 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. (De 25:13; De 25:15; Pr 11:1; Pr 16:11; Pr 20:10; Eze 45:10; Am 8:5; Mic 6:11)37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” (Le 18:4)