Laws of Holiness

¹The Lord spoke to Moses:

²‘Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.[#19:2 Ex 19:5–6; #19:2 Lv 11:44; 21:8]

³‘Each of you is to respect his mother and father. You are to keep my Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.[#19:3 Ex 20:12; 21:15]

⁴Do not turn to worthless idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am the Lord your God.[#19:4 Lv 26:1; #19:4 Nm 33:52; #19:4 Ex 20:3,23; 32:31; Dt 4:15–16]

⁵‘When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord , sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

⁶It is to be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day, but what remains on the third day must be burned.[#19:6 Lv 7:17]

⁷If any is eaten on the third day, it is a repulsive thing; it will not be accepted.[#19:7 Lv 1:4]

⁸Anyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the Lord . That person is to be cut off from his people.[#19:7–8 Lv 7:18,20]

⁹‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.[#19:9 Lv 23:22; Dt 24:19–22; Ru 2:2–7,15–19,23; Is 17:5]

¹⁰Do not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner; I am the Lord your God.[#19:10 Dt 15:11; #19:10 Ex 2:22; Dt 24:20–21; Is 17:5–6; 24:13]

¹¹‘Do not steal. Do not act deceptively or lie to one another.[#19:11 Ex 20:15; 22:1; Rm 13:9; Eph 4:28; #19:11 Pr 30:9; Is 30:9; 59:13; Jr 5:12; Hs 4:2; 7:3; 9:2; 10:13; Nah 3:1; Hab 3:17; Zch 13:4; #19:11 Gn 21:23; Ex 20:16; 1Sm 15:29; Ps 44:18; 89:34; Is 63:8; Eph 4:25]

¹²Do not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God; I am the Lord .[#19:12 Ex 20:7; Lv 18:21; 20:3; Mal 3:5; Jms 5:12]

¹³‘Do not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning.[#19:13 Dt 24:14; #19:13 Dt 28:29; #19:13 Ex 12:45; 22:14; Lv 22:10; 25:6,40,50,53; Is 7:20; Jr 46:21; Ezk 18:7; Mal 3:5; Jms 5:4]

¹⁴Do 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 .[#19:14 Ex 4:11; Dt 27:18; #19:14 Ps 147:11; Pr 1:7; Ac 10:2; Rv 14:7; #19:14 Ex 31:13]

¹⁵‘Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbour fairly.[#19:15 Dt 25:16; #19:15 Ex 23:2–3; Dt 1:17; Jms 2:9; #19:15 Gn 24:35; Jb 34:19]

¹⁶Do not go about spreading slander among your people; do not jeopardise your neighbour’s life; I am the Lord .[#19:16 Ps 15:3; Jr 6:28; 9:4; Lk 6:22; 2Co 6:8; 12:20; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; Ti 3:2; 1Pt 2:1; 4:4; Rv 2:9; #19:16 Lit not stand against]

¹⁷‘Do not harbour hatred against your brother. , Rebuke your neighbour directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.[#19:17 Or your fellow Israelite; #19:17 2Th 3:15; 1Jn 2:9,11; 3:15; 4:20; #19:17 Pr 9:8; 27:5; Ezk 3:18; Mt 18:15; Gl 6:1]

¹⁸Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord .[#19:18 Dt 32:35; Pr 20:22; Rm 12:17,19; Heb 10:30; Rv 19:2; #19:18 Pr 17:17; Mt 5:43; 22:39; Mk 12:31; Lk 10:27; Rm 13:9; Gl 5:14; Jms 2:8]

¹⁹‘You are to keep my statutes. Do not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material.[#19:19 Dt 22:9–11]

²⁰‘If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman who is a slave designated for another man, but she has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be punishment. They are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.[#19:20 Ex 6:6; 21:7–11; Lv 27:29; Dt 22:23–27; #19:20 Or compensation]

²¹However, he must bring a ram as his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.[#19:21 Or restitution; #19:21 Ex 27:21]

²²The priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed.

²³‘When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten.[#19:23 Lit uncircumcised]

²⁴In the fourth year all its fruit is to be consecrated as a praise offering to the Lord .[#19:24 Jdg 9:27]

²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you; I am the Lord your God.[#19:25 Lv 25:18–22]

²⁶‘You are not to eat anything with blood in it. , You are not to practise divination or witchcraft.[#19:26 Or anything over its blood; #19:26 Gn 9:4; Lv 3:17; 17:10–12; 1Sm 14:32–35; Ezk 33:25; #19:26 1Kg 20:33; #19:26 Dt 18:10,14; Jdg 9:37; 2Kg 21:6; 2Ch 33:6; Is 2:6; 57:3; Jr 27:9]

²⁷You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.[#19:27 Lv 21:5; Dt 14:1; 2Sm 10:4–5; Jr 41:5; 48:37; Ezk 5:1–5; 44:20]

²⁸You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord .[#19:28 1Kg 18:28; Jr 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; 48:37]

²⁹‘Do not debase , your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.[#19:29 Lit profane; #19:29 Lv 21:12; #19:29 Ex 34:31; Lv 21:9; Dt 23:17–18]

³⁰Keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary; I am the Lord .[#19:30 Ex 15:17; Lv 20:3; 26:2; Nm 19:20]

³¹‘Do not turn to mediums , or consult spiritists, , or you will be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.[#19:31 Or spirits of the dead; #19:31 Lv 20:6; #19:31 Or familiar spirits; #19:31 Dt 18:11; Ac 16:16]

³²‘You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honour the old. Fear your God; I am the Lord .[#19:32 Jb 12:12; 32:4; Pr 23:22; Lm 5:12; 1Tm 5:1]

³³‘When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.[#19:33 Dt 23:16]

³⁴You will regard the foreigner who resides with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.[#19:34 Lv 19:18; #19:34 Ex 23:9; Lv 18:3; Dt 10:19; 23:7]

³⁵‘Do not be unfair in measurements of length, weight, or volume.[#19:35 Dt 25:16]

³⁶You are to have honest balances, honest weights, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure; , I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.[#19:36 Hs 12:8; Am 8:5; Mc 6:11; #19:36 Lit honest ephah; #19:36 Lit honest hin; #19:36 Dt 25:13–16; Pr 16:11; Ezk 45:10]

³⁷Keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and do them; I am the Lord .’