Chapter 19

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.

³“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.

⁴“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.

⁵“‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day: and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; ⁸but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.

⁹“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.

¹¹“‘You shall not steal; neither shall you deal falsely, nor lie to one another.

¹²“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

¹³“‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

¹⁴“‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.

¹⁵“‘You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

¹⁶“‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people; neither shall you stand against the life⁴²⁴²literally, “blood” of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.

¹⁷“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

¹⁸You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

¹⁹“‘You shall keep my statutes.

“‘You shall not crossbreed different kinds of animals.

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

“‘neither shall there come upon on you a garment made of two kinds of material.

²⁰“‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering. ²²The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

²³“‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden.⁴³⁴³literally, “uncircumcised” Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh. ²⁵In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.

²⁶“‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it; neither shall you use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.

²⁷You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.

²⁸“‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.

²⁹Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.

³⁰“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³¹“‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

³²You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.

³³“‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

³⁵“‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. ³⁶Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall you have. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.’”