The Lord Is Holy

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ^fYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall ^grevere his mother and his father, and you shall ^hkeep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols ⁱor make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

5 “When you offer a sacrifice of ^jpeace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it ^kso that you may be accepted. 6 ^lIt shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and ^manything 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 ⁿtainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has ^oprofaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be ^pcut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

9 ^q“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 ^r“You shall not steal; ^syou shall not deal falsely; ^tyou shall not lie to one another. 12 ^uYou shall not swear ^vby my name falsely, and so ^wprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

13 “You shall not ^xoppress your neighbor or ^yrob him. ^zThe wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf or ^aput a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall ^bfear your God: I am the Lord.

15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be ^cpartial to the poor or defer to the great, but ^din righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life¹ of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

17 “You shall not ^ehate your brother in your heart, but you shall ^freason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take ^gvengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but ^hyou shall love your neighbor ⁱas yourself: I am the Lord.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. ^jYou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, ^knor 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 he 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 ^l“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not ^minterpret omens or ⁿtell fortunes. 27 You shall not ^oround off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not ^pmake any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of ^qdepravity. 30 ^rYou shall keep my ^sSabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

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

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

33 “When a ^vstranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 ^wYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall ^xlove him ^yas yourself, for ^zyou were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, ^ain measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You 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 you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children ^bto Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will ^cset my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to ^dprofane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

6 “If a person turns to ^emediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 ^fConsecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; ^gI am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For ^hanyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

10 “If a man ⁱcommits adultery with the wife of¹ his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies ^jwith his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^kperversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies ^lwith a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man ^mtakes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies ⁿwith an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 “If a man takes ^ohis sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman ^pduring her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness ^qof your mother’s sister or ^rof your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies ^swith his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes ^this brother’s wife, it is impurity.² He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not ^uvomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for ^vthey did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land ^wflowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, ^xwho has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore ^yseparate the ^zclean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not ^amake yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27 “A man or a woman who is a ^bmedium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

Holiness and the Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall ^cmake himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 ^dThey shall not ^emake bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not ^fprofane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, ^gthe bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 ^hThey shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ⁱshe shall be burned with fire.

10 “The priest who is chief among his brothers, ^jon whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the ^kgarments, shall not ^llet the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not ^mgo in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 ⁿHe shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.¹ 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin² of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^oblind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^pcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries,³ for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not ^qprofane my holy name: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 None of the offspring of Aaron who has a ^rleprous disease or a ^sdischarge may eat of the holy things ^tuntil he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean ^uthrough contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and whoever touches ^va swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ^wa person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because they are his food. 8 He shall not eat what ^xdies of itself or ^yis torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 ^z“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; ^ano foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slave¹ as his property for money, the slave² may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall ^badd the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They shall not ^cprofane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, 16 and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel ^dor of the sojourners in Israel presents a ^eburnt offering as his offering, for any of their ^fvows or ^gfreewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 ^hYou shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone offers a sacrifice of ⁱpeace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals ^jblind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain ^kseven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 ^lBut you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 ^mIt shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, ⁿthat I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt ^oto be your God: I am the Lord.”

Feasts of the Lord

23 ^pThe Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the ^qappointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as ^rholy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

3 ^s“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a ^tSabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

4 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,¹ is the Lord’s ^uPassover. 6 And ^von the fifteenth day of the same month is the ^wFeast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the ^xfirstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah² of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.³ 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.