OET-RV LEV Chapter 19

19 Then Yahweh told Mosheh:

2 Tell the entire Israeli community that they must be separate from others, because I, your god Yahweh, am holy (i.e., separated from impurity).[ref] 3 Everyone must respect and obey their parents, and observe my rest days. I am your god Yahweh.[ref]

4 Don’t turn to worthless idols, and don’t make cast metal gods for yourselves. I am your god Yahweh.[ref]

5 When you all sacrifice peace offerings, do it correctly so that you’ll all be accepted. 6 The meat from your sacrifice must be eaten that same day or the next day—anything left until the third day must be thrown into the fire. 7 If it was to be eaten on the third day, it would be ‘unclean’ and not acceptable, 8 and the people eating it would have to bear their own guilt for profaning Yahweh’s holiness, and that person must be cut off from the community.

9 When you all harvest your crops off your land, you mustn’t cut the grain right to the very edge of your field, and nor can you all pick up any dropped stalks.[ref] 10 In your vineyards, you must not pick every last grape or pick up any that fall on the ground, because they must be left for the poor and for the foreigners. I am your god Yahweh.

11 You all mustn’t steal or deceive, or defraud any fellow citizen,[ref] 12 and don’t use my name to seal a promise and then go ahead and ruin my reputation. I am Yahweh.[ref]

13 Don’t oppress your neighbours or steal from them. Don’t fail to pay a day-labourer as they finish each day’s work.[ref] 14 Don’t curse a deaf person, or put something in front of a blind person to trip them. You must respect and obey your god. I am Yahweh.[ref]

15 Don’t judge unfairly—showing partiality to the poor, or honouring those who are well-known—you must always judge your fellow citizens fairly.[ref] 16 Don’t go around slandering people. Don’t take advantage of your neighbour’s death. I am Yahweh.

17 You mustn’t hate your brother. Certainly rebuke those you interact with so you don’t get blamed for their bad behaviour.[ref] 18 Don’t try to get revenge against others or hold a grudge against any of your people, but instead, love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh.[ref]

19 Follow my instructions—don’t crossbreed two different kinds of animals, don’t sow two different crops in your field, and don’t wear clothing made of different kinds of thread.[ref]

20 If a man impregnates a woman who’s destined to be someone else’s slave and she hasn’t been freed, compensation needs to be paid.[fn] They mustn’t be executed, because she hadn’t been freed. 21 However, that man must take a ram to Yahweh at the sacred tent’s entrance for a guilt offering, 22 and the priest will make him right with Yahweh by means of that guilt offering ram, and then he’ll be forgiven for his transgression.

23 When you all enter into the land and plant various kinds of fruit trees, you mustn’t eat the fruit for the first three years—it should be regarded as ‘uncircumcised’ for that duration. 24 Then in the fourth year, all that fruit must be regarded as ‘sacred’—praise offerings for Yahweh. 25 Finally, in the fifth year, you can eat that fruit and add that produce to your harvest. I am your god Yahweh.

26 Don’t eat anything with the blood still in it. Don’t practice divination or witchcraft.[ref] 27 Don’t have haircuts that round off your hair at the sides, and men, don’t trim the edges of your beards.[ref] 28 Don’t make cuts on your bodies when someone dies, and don’t tattoo yourselves. I am Yahweh.

29 don’t defile your daughter by making her prostitute herself, so the country doesn’t prostitute itself and become full of wickedness.[ref] 30 Keep my rest days, and respect my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.[ref]

31 Don’t turn to mediums and diviners—don’t make yourselves ‘unclean’ by means of them. I am your god Yahweh.[ref]

32 Stand up for those with gray hair, and honour the presence of the elderly. Honour and respect your god. I am Yahweh.

33 Don’t take advantage of foreigners when they stay in your land—[ref] 34 you all must treat foreigners the same as native-born Israelis and love them like you love yourselves, because you were all foreigners in Egypt (Heb. Mitsrayim). I am your god Yahweh.

35 Don’t allow injustice either in judging cases, or by trading with rigged weights and measures—[ref] 36 your scales and weights and measuring containers must be honest. I am your god Yahweh who brought you all out of Egypt (Heb. Mitsrayim). 37 You all must obey my instructions and decisions and stick to them. I am Yahweh.