Leviticus 19

Yahweh Is Holy

1Then
Or “And”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to all the community of the ⌞Israelites⌟,
Literally “sons/children of Israel”
and say to them, ‘You
Plural
must be holy, because I, Yahweh your
Plural
God, am holy.
3Each of you must revere your mother
Hebrew “his mother”
and your father,
Hebrew “his father”
and you
Plural
must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.
4You
Plural
must not turn to idols, and you
Plural
must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.

5“ ‘And when you
Plural
sacrifice a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Yahweh, you
Plural
must sacrifice it for your
Plural
acceptance.
6It must be eaten on the day of your
Plural
sacrifice and the next day; but
Or “and”
the remainder must be burned up in the fire by the third day.
7And if it is indeed eaten on the third day, it is unclean meat; it shall not be regarded as accepted. 8And the one who eats it shall bear his guilt, because he has profaned Yahweh’s holiness, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

9“ ‘And at your
Plural
reaping the harvest of your
Plural
land you
Singular
must not finish reaping the edge of your
Singular
field, and you
Singular
must not glean the remnants of your
Singular
harvest.
10And you
Singular
must not glean your
Singular
vineyard, and you
Singular
must not gather your
Singular
vineyard’s fallen grapes; you
Singular
must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.

11“ ‘You
Plural
shall not steal, and you
Plural
shall not deceive, and you
Plural
shall not lie ⌞to one another⌟;
Literally “a man to his fellow citizen”
12and you
Plural
shall not swear ⌞falsely⌟
Literally “to the deception”
in my name, and so one of you
Singular
profane
Or “you shall profane”
the name of your
Singular
God; I am Yahweh.

13“ ‘You
Singular
shall not exploit your
Singular
neighbor, and you
Singular
shall not rob him; a hired worker’s wage you
Singular
shall not ⌞withhold⌟
Literally “leave with you”
overnight until morning.
14You
Singular
shall not curse the deaf, and you
Singular
shall not put a stumbling block ⌞before⌟
Literally “to the faces of”
a blind person, but
Or “and”
you
Singular
shall revere your
Singular
God; I am Yahweh.

15“ ‘You
Plural
shall not do injustice in judgment; ⌞you
Singular
shall not show partiality to the powerless⌟;
Literally “you shall not lift up the faces of the poor/powerless”
you
Singular
shall not give preference ⌞to the powerful⌟;
Literally “faces of the great”
you
Singular
shall judge your
Singular
fellow citizen with justice.
16You
Singular
shall not go about with slander among your
Singular
people; ⌞you
Singular
shall not endanger your
Singular
neighbor’s life⌟;
Literally “you shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor”
I am Yahweh.

17“ ‘You
Singular
shall not hate your
Singular
brother in your
Singular
heart; you
Singular
shall surely rebuke your
Singular
fellow citizen, so that you
Singular
do not incur sin ⌞along with⌟
Or “in addition to him”; literally “upon him”
him.
18You
Singular
shall not seek vengeance, and you
Singular
shall not harbor a grudge against ⌞your
Singular
fellow citizens⌟;
Literally “the sons of your people”
and you
Singular
shall love your
Singular
neighbor like yourself;
Singular
I am Yahweh.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19“ ‘You
Plural
must keep my statutes: as for your
Singular
domestic animals, you
Singular
shall not cause two differing kinds to breed; as for your
Singular
field, you
Singular
shall not sow two differing kinds of seed; and, a garment of two differing kinds of woven material should not be worn on you.
Singular

20“ ‘And when a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen and she is a female slave promised to a man, but
Or “and”
she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not be given to her, there shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed.
21And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance: a ram for a guilt offering. 22And the priest shall make atonement for him ⌞before⌟
Literally “to the faces of”
Yahweh with the ram of the guilt offering for his sin that he ⌞committed⌟,
Literally “sinned”
and so his sin that he ⌞committed⌟
Literally “sinned”
shall be forgiven him.

23“ ‘And when you
Plural
have come into the land and you
Plural
plant any tree for
Hebrew “of”
food, ⌞you
Plural
shall regard its fruit as unharvestable⌟;
Literally “and you shall regard its foreskin as uncircumcised its fruit”
for three years it shall be forbidden for you;
Plural
it shall not be eaten.
24But
Or “And”
in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, offerings of praise for Yahweh.
25And in the fifth year you
Plural
shall eat its fruit to increase its yield for you;
Plural
I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.

26“ ‘You
Plural
must not eat anything with the blood; you
Plural
shall not practice divination, nor shall you
Plural
interpret signs.
27You
Plural
shall not round off the corner hair of your
Plural
head, and you
Singular
shall not trim the corner of your
Singular
beard.
28And you
Plural
shall not make a slash in your
Plural
body for a dead person, nor shall you
Plural
make on yourselves a tattoo’s mark; I am Yahweh.

29“ ‘You
Singular
shall not profane your
Singular
daughter by making her a prostitute, ⌞lest the land be prostituted and the land fill up with depravity⌟.
Literally “and the land does not prostitute and the land fills up depravity” or “so that the land does not prostitute and the land fills up depravity”
30You
Plural
shall keep my Sabbaths, and you
Plural
shall revere my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

31“ ‘You
Plural
shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you
Plural
shall not seek them to become unclean with them; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.

32“ ‘⌞Before⌟
Literally “from the faces of”
old age you
Singular
shall get up, and you
Singular
shall show respect for an old person; and you
Singular
shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

33“ ‘And when an alien dwells with you
Singular
in your
Plural
land, you
Plural
shall not oppress him.
34The alien who is dwelling with you
Plural
shall be like a native among you,
Plural
and you
Singular
shall love him like yourself,
Singular
because you
Plural
were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God.

35“ ‘You
Plural
shall not commit injustice in regulation, in measurement, in weight, or
Or “and”
volume.
36You
Plural
must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am Yahweh your
Plural
God who brought you
Plural
out from the land of Egypt.

37“ ‘Thus you
Plural
shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you
Plural
shall do them; I am Yahweh.’ ”
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