Leviticus: Unit XIII (Ch. 19)

A [19]1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.

B 3You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My sabbaths: I the Lord am your God.

C 4Do not turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves: I the Lord am your God.

D 5When you sacrifice an offering of well-being to the Lord, sacrifice it so that it may be accepted on your behalf. 6It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the day following; but what is left by the third day must be consumed in fire. 7If it should be eaten on the third day, it is an offensive thing, it will not be acceptable. 8And he who eats of it shall bear his guilt, for he has profaned what is sacred to the Lord; that person shall be cut off from his kin. 9When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the Lord am your God.

A 11You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another. 12You shall not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

B 13You shall not defraud your fellow. You shall not commit robbery. The wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning. 14You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

C 15You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your kinsman fairly. 16Do not (Others: go about as a talebearer among ; meaning of Heb. uncertain.)deal basely with (Others: go about as a talebearer among ; meaning of Heb. uncertain.) your countrymen. Do not (Lit. stand upon ; precise meaning of Heb. phrase uncertain.)profit by (Lit. stand upon ; precise meaning of Heb. phrase uncertain.) the blood of your fellow: I am the Lord.

D 17You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but (Exact force of we- uncertain.) incur no guilt because of him. 18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the Lord. 19You shall observe My laws.

You shall not let your cattle mate with a different kind;

you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed;

you shall not put on cloth from a mixture of two kinds of material.

20If a man has carnal relations with a woman who is a slave and has been designated for another man, but has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there shall be an indemnity; they shall not, however, be put to death, since she has not been freed.

21But he must bring to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, as his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram of guilt offering. 22With the ram of guilt offering the priest shall make expiation for him before the Lord for the sin that he committed;

and the sin that he committed will be forgiven him.

23When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. (Heb. root >rl, commonly to be uncircumcised.) Three years it shall be forbidden (Heb. root >rl, commonly to be uncircumcised.) for you, not to be eaten.

24In the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside for jubilation before the Lord;

25and only in the fifth year may you use its fruit that its yield to you may be increased: I the Lord am your God.

A 26You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice divination or soothsaying. 27You shall not round off the side-growth on your head, or destroy the side-growth of your beard. 28You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

B 29Do not degrade your daughter and make her a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and the land be filled with depravity. 30You shall keep My sabbaths and venerate My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

C 31Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I the Lord am your God.

A 32You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

B 33When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. 34The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your God.

C 35You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. 36You shall have an honest balance, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I the Lord am your God who freed you from the land of Egypt. 37You shall faithfully observe all My laws and all My rules: I am the Lord.