The Lord Is Holy
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, tYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 uEvery one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and vyou shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 wDo not turn to idols xor make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
5 y“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so zthat you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is atainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bbear his iniquity, because che has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
9 d“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
11 e“You shall not steal; fyou shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 gYou shall not swear by my name falsely, and so hprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
13 i“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. jThe wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 kYou shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall lfear your God: I am the Lord.
15 m“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 nYou shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not ostand up against the life1 of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 p“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but qyou shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you rincur sin because of him. 18 sYou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but tyou shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
You Shall Keep My Statutes
19 u“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. vYou 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 whe 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.2 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 x“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. yYou shall not interpret omens or ztell fortunes. 27 aYou shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any bcuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
29 c“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30 dYou shall keep my Sabbaths and ereverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31 f“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 g“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall hfear your God: I am the Lord.
33 i“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 jYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and kyou shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35 l“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 mYou shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:3 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And nyou shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my dshepherd; I shall not ewant.
2 He makes me lie down in green fpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.1
3 He grestores my soul.
He hleads me in ipaths of righteousness2
for his jname’s sake.
4 Even though I kwalk through the valley of lthe shadow of death,3
I will mfear no evil,
for nyou are with me;
your orod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You pprepare a table before me
in qthe presence of my enemies;
you ranoint my head with oil;
my scup overflows.
6 Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me
all the days of my life,
The King of Glory
A Psalm of David.
1 vThe earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,8
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has wfounded it upon xthe seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 yWho shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his zholy place?
4 aHe who has bclean hands and ca pure heart,
who does not dlift up his soul to ewhat is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive fblessing from the Lord
and grighteousness from hthe God of his salvation.
6 Such is ithe generation of those who seek him,
7 kLift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that lthe King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mmighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
nThe Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
The Vanity of Self-Indulgence
1 I xsaid in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.1 2 I ysaid of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I zsearched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on afolly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I bbuilt houses and planted cvineyards for myself. 5 I made myself dgardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had eslaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of fherds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and ggold and the treasure of hkings and iprovinces. I got jsingers, both men and women, and many kconcubines,2 the delight of the sons of man.
9 So I became great and lsurpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my lwisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart mfound pleasure in all my toil, and this was my nreward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ovanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing pto be gained under the sun.
The Vanity of Living Wisely
12 qSo I turned to consider rwisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only swhat has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 tThe wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the usame event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, v“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is wno enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. xHow the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for oall is vanity and a striving after wind.
The Vanity of Toil
18 I hated yall my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must zleave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I aturned about and gave my heart up to despair bover all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from call the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For dall his days are full of sorrow, and his ework is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 fThere is nothing better for a person than that he should geat and drink and find enjoyment3 in his toil. This also, I saw, is hfrom the hand of God, 25 for apart from him4 who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him iGod has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ethe business of gathering and collecting, jonly to give to one who pleases God. kThis also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Some Will Depart from the Faith
1 Now xthe Spirit expressly says that yin later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to zdeceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of aliars whose consciences are seared, 3 bwho forbid marriage and crequire abstinence from foods dthat God created eto be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For feverything created by God is good, and gnothing is to be rejected if it is ereceived with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy hby the word of God and prayer.
A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6 iIf you put these things before the brothers,1 you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have jfollowed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, ksilly myths. Rather ltrain yourself for godliness; 8 for while mbodily training is of some value, godliness nis of value in every way, as oit holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is ptrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,2 because we have our hope set on the living God, qwho is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach rthese things. 12 sLet no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers tan example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 uDo not neglect the gift you have, which was given you vby prophecy when the council of elders wlaid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,3 so that xall may see your progress. 16 yKeep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save zboth yourself and ayour hearers.
