1 Yahweh 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. 6 It 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. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; 8 but 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. 10 You 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. "'You shall not lie. "'You shall not deceive 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 you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. 16 "'You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. "'You shall not endanger the life 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. 18 "'You 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. 21 He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering. 22 The 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. Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh. 25 In 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. 27 "'You 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. 29 "'Don'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. 32 "'You 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. 34 The 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. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 "'You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.'"
Exhortations to holiness, and a repetition of various laws, Leviticus 19:1, Leviticus 19:2 Duty to parents, and observance of the Sabbath, Leviticus 19:3. Against idolatry, Leviticus 19:4. Concerning peace-offerings, Leviticus 19:5-8. The gleanings of the harvest and vintage to be left for the poor, Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10. Against stealing and lying, Leviticus 19:11; false swearing, Leviticus 19:12; defrauding the hireling, Leviticus 19:13. Laws in behalf of the deaf and the blind, Leviticus 19:14. Against respect of persons in judgment, Leviticus 19:15; tale-bearing, Leviticus 19:16; hatred and uncharitableness, Leviticus 19:17; revenge, Leviticus 19:18; unlawful mixtures in cattle, seed, and garments, Leviticus 19:19. Laws relative to the bondmaid that is betrothed, Leviticus 19:20-22. The fruit of the trees of the land not to be eaten for the first three years, Leviticus 19:23; but this is lawful in the fourth and fifth years, Leviticus 19:24, Leviticus 19:25. Against eating of blood, and using incantations, Leviticus 19:26; superstitious cutting of the hair, Leviticus 19:27; and cutting of the flesh in the times of mourning, Leviticus 19:28; prostitution, Leviticus 19:29. Sabbaths to be reverenced, Leviticus 19:30. Against consulting those who are wizards, and have familiar spirits, Leviticus 19:31. Respect must be shown to the aged, Leviticus 19:32. The stranger shall not be oppressed, Leviticus 19:33, Leviticus 19:34. They shall keep just measures, weights, and balances, Leviticus 19:35, Leviticus 19:36. Conclusion, Leviticus 19:37.
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 19
This chapter contains various laws, ceremonial and moral, tending to the sanctification of men, in imitation of the holy God, Leviticus 19:1; as concerning the reverence of parents, and observing the sabbaths, Leviticus 19:3; against idolatry, Leviticus 19:4; about offering and eating of peace offerings, Leviticus 19:5; concerning harvest and gleaning of fields and vineyards, Leviticus 19:9; respecting the breach of several of the commandments of the law, as the eighth, ninth, and third, particularly, Leviticus 19:11; and others relating to the ill usage of the deaf and blind, and having respect to persons rich or poor in judgment, and acting the part of a tale bearer among people, Leviticus 19:14; and bearing hatred and ill will to any of their neighbours, Leviticus 19:17; and others forbidding mixtures in the generation of cattle, sowing fields, and wearing apparel, Leviticus 19:19; and concerning the punishment of a man that lay with a bondmaid, and the offering he should bring for his atonement, Leviticus 19:20; then follow certain laws concerning fruit trees, when the fruit of them should be eaten, Leviticus 19:23; and concerning eating with blood, using enchantments, and observing times, and managing the hair of the head and beard, and avoiding to make any marks, prints, and cuttings in the flesh for the dead, Leviticus 19:26; a caution not to prostitute a daughter to whoredom, and to observe the sabbath, and reverence the sanctuary of God, and pay no regard to wizards and familiar spirits, Leviticus 19:29; to show reverence to ancient persons, and not to vex and distress strangers, Leviticus 19:32; and to do no injustice in weight and measure, Leviticus 19:35; all which instructions are to be carefully observed, and put in execution, Leviticus 19:37.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.