Leviticus 19:19-37

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19 ¹“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. ²You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

20 “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;

21 but ³he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering.

22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. ^[a] Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.

24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.

25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.

26 ⁴“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. ⁵You shall not interpret omens or ⁶tell fortunes.

27 ⁷You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.

28 You shall not make any ⁸cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 ⁹“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.

30 ¹⁰You shall keep my Sabbaths and ¹¹reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 ¹²“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 ¹³“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall ¹⁴fear your God: I am the Lord.

33 ¹⁵“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

34 ¹⁶You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and ¹⁷you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 ¹⁸“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.

36 ¹⁹You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: ^[b] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 And ²⁰you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord. ”

Leviticus 19:19-37 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 19

This chapter contains various laws, ceremonial and moral, tending to the sanctification of men, in imitation of the holy God, Le 19:1,2; as concerning the reverence of parents, and observing the sabbaths, Le 19:3; against idolatry, Le 19:4; about offering and eating of peace offerings, Le 19:5-8; concerning harvest and gleaning of fields and vineyards, Le 19:9,10; respecting the breach of several of the commandments of the law, as the eighth, ninth, and third, particularly, Le 19:11-13; 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, Le 19:14-16; and bearing hatred and ill will to any of their neighbours, Le 19:17,18; and others forbidding mixtures in the generation of cattle, sowing fields, and wearing apparel, Le 19:19; and concerning the punishment of a man that lay with a bondmaid, and the offering he should bring for his atonement, Le 19:20-22; then follow certain laws concerning fruit trees, when the fruit of them should be eaten, Le 19:23-25; 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, Le 19:26-28; 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, Le 19:29-31; to show reverence to ancient persons, and not to vex and distress strangers, Le 19:32-34; and to do no injustice in weight and measure, Le 19:35,36; all which instructions are to be carefully observed, and put in execution, Le 19:37.

Cross References

• 1. 19:19 See ch. 18:4, 5
• 2. 19:19 Deut. 22:9-11
• 3. 19:21 ch. 5:15; 6:6, 7
• 4. 19:26 See ch. 3:17
• 5. 19:26 Deut. 18:10; 2 Kgs. 17:17
• 6. 19:26 2 Kgs. 21:6; 2 Chr. 33:6
• 7. 19:27 ch. 21:5; [Isa. 15:2; Jer. 9:26; 48:37]
• 8. 19:28 ch. 21:1, 4, 5; Deut. 14:1; 1 Kgs. 18:28; Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; 48:37
• 9. 19:29 [Deut. 23:17]
• 10. 19:30 ver. 3; ch. 26:2; See Ex. 20:8
• 11. 19:30 Eccles. 5:1; [Matt. 21:12, 13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45, 46; John 2:14-16]
• 12. 19:31 ch. 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:11; Isa. 8:19; [Ex. 22:18; 1 Sam. 28:3, 7, 9; 1 Chr. 10:13; Acts 16:16]
• 13. 19:32 Prov. 20:29; [Lam. 5:12]
• 14. 19:32 See ver. 14
• 15. 19:33 Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Mal. 3:5
• 16. 19:34 See ch. 16:29
• 17. 19:34 Deut. 10:19; See ver. 18
• 18. 19:35 See ver. 15
• 19. 19:36 Deut. 25:13, 15; Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:10; Ezek. 45:10; [Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:11]
• 20. 19:37 See ch. 18:4, 5

Footnotes

• [a] 19:23 Hebrew 'as its uncircumcision'
• [b] 19:36 An 'ephah' was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a 'hin' was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters