Leviticus 19

1 The Lord spake to Moses, and said,
2 Speak thou to all the company of the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Be ye holy, for I am holy, your Lord. God. (Speak thou to all the congregation of the Israelites, and thou shalt say to them, Be ye holy, for I am holy, the Lord your God.)
3 Each man dread his father, and his mother. Keep ye my sabbaths; I am your Lord God. (Everyone honour his father, and his mother. Keep ye my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.)
4 Do not ye be turned to idols, neither ye shall make to you molten gods; I am your Lord God. (Do not ye turn to idols; nor make ye gods out of metal for yourselves; I am the Lord your God.)
5 If ye offer a sacrifice of peaceable things to the Lord, that it be quemeful, (If ye offer a peace offering to the Lord, so that it be acceptable,)
6 ye shall eat it in that day, in which it is offered, and in the tother day (ye shall eat it on the day, on which it is offered, and on the next day); soothly whatever thing is left into the third day, ye shall burn it in (the) fire.
7 If any man eateth thereof after two days, he shall be unholy, and guilty of unfaithfulness, either wickedness;
8 and he shall bear his wickedness, for he defouled the holy thing of the Lord, and his soul shall perish from his people.
9 When thou shalt reap the fruits of thy land, thou shalt not cut till to the ground the corns of the land, neither thou shalt gather the ears of corn that be left; (When thou shalt harvest the fruits of thy land, thou shalt not cut the corners of the land down to the ground, nor shalt thou gather up all the ears of corn that be left;)
10 neither in thy vineyard thou shalt gather the raisins and the grains falling down, but thou shalt leave them to be gathered of poor men and of pilgrims; I am your Lord God. (nor in thy vineyard shalt thou gather up all the raisins and the grains that fall down, but thou shalt leave them to be gathered up by the poor and by foreigners; I am the Lord your God.)
11 Ye shall not do theft. Ye shall not lie, and no man (shall) deceive his neighbour.
12 Thou shalt not forswear in my name, neither thou shalt defoul the name of thy God; I am the Lord.
13 Thou shalt not make false challenge to thy neighbour, neither thou shalt oppress him by violence. The hire of thy workman shall not dwell with thee unto the morrowtide. (Thou shalt not rob thy neighbour, nor shalt thou oppress him with violence. The wages of thy workman shall not abide with thee until the next morning.)
14 Thou shalt not curse a deaf man, neither thou shalt set an hurting before a blind man; but thou shalt dread thy Lord God, for I am the Lord. (Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor shalt thou put a cause of stumbling in front of the blind; but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, for I am the Lord.)
15 Thou shalt not do that, that is wicked, neither thou shalt deem unjustly; behold thou not the person of a poor man, neither honour thou the face of a mighty man; deem thou justly to thy neighbour (simply judge thy neighbour justly).
16 Thou shalt not be a slanderer, that is, a false accuser, neither a privy backbiter in the people (nor a backbiter in private among the people); thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord.
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart, but reprove thou him openly, lest thou have sin on him. (Thou shalt not hate thy brother in private, but rather, reprove thou him openly, lest thou sin because of him.)
18 Thou shalt not seek vengeance, neither thou shalt be mindful of the wrong of thy citizens (nor shalt thou remember the wrong-doings of thy fellow citizens); thou shalt love thy friend as thyself; I am the Lord.
19 Keep ye my laws (Obey ye my laws). Thou shalt not make thy beasts to engender with the beasts of another kind. Thou shalt not sow a field with diverse seed. Thou shalt not be clothed in a cloak which is woven of two things.
20 If a man sleepeth with a woman by fleshly knowing of seed, which woman is an handmaid, or bond, yea, a noble woman of kin, and nevertheless is not again-bought by price, neither rewarded with freedom, she shall be beaten [both shall be scourged], and they shall not die, for she was not free. (If a man sleepeth with a woman by fleshly knowing of seed, which woman is a slave-girl, or a bondwoman, and betrothed to another, but nevertheless not bought back with money, or rewarded with freedom, she shall be beaten/both of them shall be scourged, but they shall not die, for she was not free.)
21 Soothly the man for his trespass shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of witnessing; (And the man shall bring a ram for a trespass offering to the Lord, to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Witnessing;)
22 and the priest shall pray for him, and for his trespass, before the Lord; and the Lord shall be merciful to him, and the sin shall be forgiven.
23 When ye have entered into the land of promise, and have planted therein apple trees, ye shall do away the first fruits; (for three years) the apples which those trees bring forth shall be unclean to you, neither ye shall eat of them.
24 Forsooth in the fourth year all the fruit of the trees shall be hallowed and be praiseable to the Lord; (But in the fourth year, all the fruit of the trees shall be declared holy, and shall be given as a gift to the Lord;)
25 forsooth in the fifth year ye shall eat the fruits, and ye shall gather (the) apples, which those trees bring forth; I am your Lord God (I am the Lord your God).
26 Ye shall not eat flesh with [the] blood. Ye shall not make vain divining, neither ye shall keep (mind of) dreams (nor shall ye remember, or think upon, dreams);
27 neither ye shall clip the hair round, neither ye shall shave the beard; (nor shall ye round off the ends of your hair, nor shall ye shave off your beard;)
28 and on dead men ye shall not cut your flesh, neither ye shall make to you any figures, either marks in your flesh; I am the Lord. (and ye shall not cut your flesh in mourning for the dead, nor shall ye make any tattoos on yourself, that is, any marks in your flesh; I am the Lord.)
29 Set thou not thy daughter to do lechery for hire, and the land be defouled, and be [full-]filled with sin. (Do not thou allow thy daughter to go awhoring for hire, so that the land be defiled, and it be filled full with sin.)
30 Keep ye my sabbaths, and dread ye my saintuary (and honour my sanctuary); I am the Lord.
31 Bow ye not to astrologers, neither ask ye anything of false diviners, that ye be defouled by them; I am your Lord God. (Do not ye turn to astrologers, nor ask ye anything of those who claim to contact the dead, so that ye be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.)
32 Rise thou before an hoar head, and honour thou the person of an eld man, and dread thou thy Lord God (and fear thou the Lord thy God); I am the Lord.
33 If a comeling dwelleth in your land, and abideth among you, despise ye not him, (If a newcomer liveth in your land, and abideth among you, do not ye despise him,)
34 but be he among you as a man born in the land; and ye shall love him as yourself, for also ye were comelings in the land of Egypt; I am your Lord God. (but let him be among you like anyone born in the land; and ye shall love him like yourself, for ye were once newcomers in Egypt; I am the Lord your God.)
35 Do not ye do any wicked thing in doom, in rule, in weight, and in measure; (Do not ye do any wicked thing in judgement, in rule, in weight, or in measure;)
36 the balance be just, and the weights be even, the bushel be just, and the pint be even; I am your Lord God, that led you out of the land of Egypt. (let the balances be true, and the weights be equal, the bushels be true, and the pints be equal; I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt.)
37 Keep ye all my behests, and all my dooms, and do ye them; I am the Lord. (Obey ye all my commands, and all my laws, or judgements, and do ye them; I am the Lord.)

Leviticus 19 Commentaries

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.