Leviticus 26

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The Lamps

24 bThe Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. He shall arrange the lamps on the clampstand of pure gold1 before the Lord regularly.

Bread for the Tabernacle

You shall take fine flour and bake twelve dloaves from it; two tenths of an ephah2 shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, eon the table of pure gold3 before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. fEvery Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And git shall be for Aaron and his sons, and hthey shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.

Punishment for Blasphemy

10 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son iblasphemed the jName, and cursed. Then they kbrought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And lthey put him in custody, mtill the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 nBring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him olay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall pbear his sin. 16 Whoever qblasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

17 rWhoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18 sWhoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, tas he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21 sWhoever kills an animal shall make it good, rand whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the usame rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God. 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and vthey brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 wThe Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into xthe land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. yYou shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land1 shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves2 and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: zall its yield shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

You shall count seven weeks3 of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound athe loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. bOn the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and cproclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of dyou shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it eyou shall neither sow nor reap ywhat grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. fYou may eat the produce of the field.4

13 dIn this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, gyou shall not wrong one another. 15 hYou shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 iYou shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

18 jTherefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then kyou will dwell in the land securely. 19 lThe land will yield its fruit, and myou will eat your fill kand dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, nWhat shall we eat in the seventh year, if owe may not sow or gather in our crop? 21 I will pcommand my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 qWhen you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of rthe old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Redemption of Property

23 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for sthe land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

25 If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, tthen his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let uhim calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall vbe released, and whe shall return to his property.

29 If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; vit shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and vthey shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for xthe cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the fields yof pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.

Kindness for Poor Brothers

35 If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, zyou shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 aTake no interest from him or profit, but bfear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 aYou shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 cI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

39 dIf your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 vThen he shall go out from you, ehe and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return fto the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are gmy servants,5 whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 hYou shall not rule over him iruthlessly but jshall fear your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 kYou may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel lyou shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

Redeeming a Poor Man

47 If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and myour brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may nredeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he ogrows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be prated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. lHe shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then qhe and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is rto me that the people of Israel are servants.6 They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Blessings for Obedience

26 You shall not make sidols for yourselves or erect an timage or upillar, and you shall not set up a vfigured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. wYou shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

xIf you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then yI will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. zYour threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And ayou shall eat your bread to the full and bdwell in your land securely. cI will give peace in the land, and dyou shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And eI will remove harmful beasts from the land, fand the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. gFive of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. hI will turn to you and imake you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat jold store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 kI will make my dwelling1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 lAnd I mwill walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 nI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. oAnd I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 pBut if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but qbreak my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with rwasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And syou shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will tset my face against you, and uyou shall be struck down before your enemies. vThose who hate you shall rule over you, and wyou shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again xsevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break ythe pride of your power, and I zwill make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And ayour strength shall be spent in vain, for byour land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 cThen if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And dI will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that eyour roads shall be deserted.

23 And fif by this discipline you are not turned to me cbut walk contrary to me, 24 gthen I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And hI will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, iI will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 jWhen I break your supply2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and kyou shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 But lif in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you min fury, and I myself will discipline you xsevenfold for your sins. 29 nYou shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And oI will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and pcast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will qlay your cities waste and will rmake your sanctuaries desolate, and sI will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And tI myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be uappalled at it. 33 And vI will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 wThen the land shall enjoy3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, xI will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The ysound of a zdriven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And ayou shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall brot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

40 But if cthey confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they dcommitted against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemiesif then their euncircumcised heart is fhumbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will gremember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will hremember the land. 43 But wthe land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, iI will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and jbreak my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, kwhom I brought out of the land of Egypt lin the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

46 mThese are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses non Mount Sinai.

Laws About Vows

27 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone omakes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels1 of silver, according to the pshekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

If the vow2 is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 qHe shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 rBut if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation.

14 When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 tAnd if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

16 If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer3 of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall ucalculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19 vAnd if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a sfifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21 But the field, wwhen it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been xdevoted. The priest shall be in ypossession of it. 22 If he dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, zwhich is not a part of his possession, 23 athen the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the Lord. 24 bIn the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25 Every valuation shall be according to cthe shekel of the sanctuary: dtwenty gerahs4 shall make a shekel.

26 But a efirstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, fand add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

28 But gno devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 hNo one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction5 from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

30 iEvery tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that jpass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, kneither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 lThese are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel mon Mount Sinai.

Numbers Illustration

Numbers

A Census of Israel’s Warriors

The Lord spoke to Moses ain the wilderness of Sinai, bin the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, cTake a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, dby fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. eFrom twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, fcompany by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, gElizur the son of Shedeur; from Simeon, hShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; from Judah, iNahshon the son of Amminadab; from Issachar, jNethanel the son of Zuar; from Zebulun, kEliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, lElishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, mGamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, nAbidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, oAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, pPagiel the son of Ochran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of qDeuel; 15 from Naphtali, rAhira the son of Enan. 16 These were the ones schosen from the congregation, tthe chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

17 Moses and Aaron took these men uwho had been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The people of vReuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were w46,500.

22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23 those listed of the tribe of Simeon were x59,300.

24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25 those listed of the tribe of Gad were y45,650.

26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27 those listed of the tribe of Judah were z74,600.

28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29 those listed of the tribe of Issachar were a54,400.

30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31 those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were b57,400.

32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33 those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were c40,500.

34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35 those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were d32,200.

36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37 those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were e35,400.

38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39 those listed of the tribe of Dan were f62,700.

40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41 those listed of the tribe of Asher were g41,500.

42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43 those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were h53,400.

44 iThese are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel 46 all those listed were j603,550.

Levites Exempted

47 But kthe Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 49 Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 lBut appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it mand shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 nWhen the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. oAnd if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and peach man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no qwrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. rAnd the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony. 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.