Leviticus 19; Leviticus 20; Leviticus 21

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Leviticus 19

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
2 "Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them, 'Be holy, because I am holy. I am the LORD your God.
3 " 'All of you must have respect for your mother and father. You must always keep my Sabbath days. I am the LORD your God.
4 " 'Do not turn away from me to worship statues of gods. Do not make gods out of metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.
5 " 'Suppose you sacrifice a friendship offering to me. Then do it in the right way. And I will accept it from you.
6 You must eat it on the same day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything that is left over until the third day must be burned up.
7 " 'If you eat any of it on the third day, it is not pure. I will not accept it.
8 If you eat it, you will be held accountable. You have misused what is holy to me. You will be cut off from your people.
9 " 'Suppose you are harvesting your crops. Then do not harvest all the way to the edges of your field. And do not pick up the grain you missed.
10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for poor people and outsiders. I am the LORD your God.
11 " 'Do not steal. " 'Do not tell lies. " 'Do not cheat one another.
12 " 'Do not take an oath and give false witness in my name. That would be treating it as if it were not holy. I am the LORD your God.
13 " 'Do not cheat your neighbor. Do not rob him. " 'Do not hold back the pay of a hired worker until morning.
14 " 'Do not call a curse down on deaf people. Do not put anything in front of blind people that will make them trip. Instead, have respect for me. I am the LORD your God.
15 " 'Do not make something that is wrong appear to be right. Treat poor people and rich people in the same way. Do not favor one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly.
16 " 'Do not go around spreading lies among your people. " 'Do not do anything that puts your neighbor's life in danger. I am the Lord.
17 " 'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Correct your neighbor boldly when he does something wrong. Then you will not share his guilt.
18 " 'Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against one of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.
19 " 'Obey my rules. " 'Do not let different kinds of animals mate with each other. " 'Do not mix two kinds of seeds and then plant them in your field. " 'Do not wear clothes that are made out of two kinds of cloth.
20 " 'Suppose a man has sex with a female slave. But she and another man have promised to get married to each other. And her freedom has not yet been paid for or given to her. Then she and the man who had sex with her must be punished. But they must not be put to death, because she had not been set free.
21 " 'The man must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. It is for a guilt offering to me.
22 The priest must take the ram for the guilt offering. He must sacrifice it to pay for the man's sin in my sight. Then his sin will be forgiven.
23 " 'When you enter the land, suppose you plant a fruit tree. Then do not eat its fruit for the first three years. The fruit is not "clean."
24 In the fourth year all of the fruit will be holy. Offer it as a way of showing praise to me.
25 But in the fifth year you can eat the fruit. Then you will gather more and more fruit. I am the LORD your God.
26 " 'Do not eat any meat that still has blood in it. " 'Do not practice any kind of evil magic at all.
27 " 'Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head. Do not clip off the edges of your beard.
28 " 'Do not make cuts on your bodies when someone dies. Do not put marks on your skin. I am the Lord.
29 " 'Do not dishonor your daughter's body by making a prostitute out of her. If you do, the people of Israel will start using prostitutes. The land will be filled with evil.
30 " 'You must always keep my Sabbath days. Have respect for my sacred tent. I am the Lord.
31 " 'Do not look for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Do not go to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. If you do, they will make you "unclean." I am the LORD your God.
32 " 'Stand up in order to show your respect for old people. Also have respect for me. I am the LORD your God.
33 " 'Suppose an outsider lives with you in your land. Then do not treat him badly.
34 Treat him as if he were one of your own people. Love him as you love yourself. Remember that all of you were outsiders in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
35 " 'Be honest when you measure lengths, weights or amounts.
36 Use honest scales and honest weights. Use honest dry measures. And use honest liquid measures. I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt.
37 " 'Obey all of my rules and laws. Follow them. I am the Lord.' "
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.

Leviticus 20

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
2 "Say to the people of Israel, 'Suppose a person sacrifices one of his children to the god Molech. It does not matter whether that person is an Israelite or an outsider who lives in Israel. He must be put to death. The people of the community must kill him by throwing stones at him.
3 I will turn against that man. I will cut him off from his people. That is because he sacrificed his child to Molech. He has made my sacred tent "unclean." He has treated my name as if it were not holy.
4 " 'Suppose the people of the community close their eyes to the fact that the man sacrificed his child to Molech. And suppose they fail to put him to death.
5 Then I will turn against that man and his family. I will cut him off from his people. I will also cut off all those who follow him by joining themselves to Molech. They are not faithful to me.
6 " 'Suppose someone looks for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Or he goes to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. And he follows their advice. Then he has not been faithful to me. So I will turn against him. I will cut him off from his people.
7 " 'Set yourselves apart for me. Be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
8 Obey my rules. Follow them. I am the Lord. I make you holy.
9 " 'If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother. Anything that happens to him will be his own fault.
10 " 'Suppose a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife. Then the man and the woman must be put to death.
11 " 'Suppose a man has sex with his father's wife. Then he has brought shame on his father. The man and the woman must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.
12 " 'Suppose a man has sex with his daughter-in-law. Then they must be put to death. They have used sex in a twisted way. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.
13 " 'Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.
14 " 'Suppose a man gets married to both a woman and her mother. That is evil. All of them must be burned to death. Then there will not be any evil among you.
15 " 'Suppose a man has sex with an animal. Then he must be put to death. You must also kill the animal.
16 " 'Suppose a woman has sex with an animal. Then kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.
17 " 'Suppose a man gets married to his sister and has sex with her. That is a shameful thing to do. It does not matter whether she is the daughter of his father or of his mother. They must be cut off right in front of their own people. That man has brought shame on his sister. He will be held accountable for what he has done.
18 " 'Suppose a man makes love to a woman during her monthly period. He has uncovered the place where her bleeding was coming from. And she has let him do it. So they must be cut off from their people.
19 " 'Do not have sex with the sister of either your mother or your father. That would bring shame on a close relative. Both of you would be held accountable for what you have done.
20 " 'Suppose a man has sex with his aunt. Then he has brought shame on his uncle. Both of them will be held accountable for what they have done. They will die without having any children.
21 " 'Suppose a man gets married to his brother's wife. That is something that should never be done. He has brought shame on his brother. Neither of them will have any children.
22 " 'Obey all of my rules and laws. Follow them. Then the land where I am bringing you to live will not throw you out.
23 To make room for you, I am going to drive out the nations that are in the land. You must not follow the practices of those nations. I hated those nations because they did all of those things.
24 " 'But I said to you, "You will take over their land as your own. I will give it to you. It will belong to you. It is a land that has plenty of milk and honey." I am the LORD your God. I have set you apart from the other nations.
25 " 'So you must be able to tell the difference between animals that are "clean" and those that are not. You must know which birds are "clean" and which are not. Do not make yourselves "unclean" by eating any animal or bird that is not "clean." Do not make yourselves "unclean" by eating anything that moves along the ground. I have set all of them apart. They are "unclean" for you.
26 " 'You must be holy. You must be set apart to me. I am the Lord. I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations to be my own people.
27 " 'Suppose a man or woman gets messages from those who have died. Or suppose a man or woman talks to the spirits of the dead. Then you must put that man or woman to death. You must kill them by throwing stones at them. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.' "
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.

Leviticus 21

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, 'A priest must not make himself "unclean" by going near the dead body of any of his people.
2 But he can go near the body of a close relative. It could be his mother, father, son, daughter or brother.
3 He can also go near a sister who is not married. She would have depended on him because she did not have a husband. The priest can make himself "unclean" by going near her body.
4 But he must not make himself "unclean" by going near the bodies of people who were only related to him by marriage. Going near them would make him "unclean."
5 " 'Priests must not shave any part of their heads. They must not shave off the edges of their beards. They must not make cuts on their bodies when someone dies.
6 " 'Priests must be holy. They must be set apart for me. I am their God. They must not treat my name as if it were not holy. They must be holy because they bring offerings that are made to me with fire. That is my food.
7 " 'They must not get married to women who are "unclean" because they are prostitutes. They must not marry women who are divorced from their husbands. That is because priests are holy. They are set apart for me. I am their God.
8 Consider them as holy, because they offer up food to me. Consider them as holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord. I make you holy.
9 " 'Suppose a priest's daughter makes herself "unclean" by becoming a prostitute. Then she brings shame on her father. She must be burned to death.
10 " 'The high priest is the one among his brothers whose head has been anointed with olive oil. He has been appointed to wear the priest's clothes. " 'When someone dies, the high priest must not let his hair hang loose. He must not tear his clothes to show how sad he is.
11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself "unclean," even if his father or mother dies.
12 He must not leave my sacred tent to take part in burying a body. That would bring shame on the tent. My anointing oil has set the high priest apart. I am the Lord.
13 " 'The woman the high priest gets married to must be a virgin.
14 He must not marry a widow or a woman who is divorced. He must not marry a woman who is "unclean" because she is a prostitute. He must only get married to a virgin. She must come from his own people.
15 If he marries a virgin, he makes the children he has by her "clean." I am the Lord. I make him holy.' "
16 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
17 "Speak to Aaron. Tell him, 'For all time to come, no man in your family line who has any flaws can come near to offer food to me.
18 " 'No man who has any flaws can come near. No man who is blind or disabled can come. No man whose body is scarred or twisted can come.
19 No man whose foot or hand is disabled can come.
20 No man whose back is bent can come. No man who is too short can come. No man who has anything wrong with his eyes can come. No man who has boils or running sores can come. No man whose sex glands are crushed can come.
21 " 'No man in the family line of the priest Aaron who has any flaws can come near me. He can't come to bring the offerings that are made to me with fire. If he has any flaws, he must not come near to offer food to me.
22 He can eat the holy food. He can also eat my very holy food.
23 But because he has a flaw, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. If he does, he will make my sacred tent "unclean." I am the Lord. I make everything holy.' "
24 So Moses told all of those things to Aaron and his sons. He also told them to all of the people of Israel.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.