Leviticus 19

Other rules

1The LORD said to Moses, 2‘Speak to Israel’s people. They must be holy because I am holy. You must tell them that.

3Each person must respect his mother and his father. All the people must keep the Sabbath as a day for rest. I am the LORD your God.

4You must not worship idols. You must not use metal to make gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

5When a person sacrifices a fellowship offering to the LORD, he must obey the rules. If he does, the Lord will accept the gift. 6The people must eat the meat on the day that the person offers it. Or they must eat it on the next day. The person must burn any meat that he has not eaten after the 2nd (second) day. 7On the third day, the meat is not clean. 8If he eats the meat on the third day he makes unclean a gift that is holy to the LORD. You must send him away from the camp.

9When a person cuts the plants in his field, he must not cut to the edge of the field. He must not pick up what he drops. 10If a person grows fruit to make wine, he must not pick all of the fruit. He must not pick up the fruit that drops. The fruit that drops is for the poor people. And it is for those who are foreign. I am the LORD your God.

11You must not take something that belongs to another person. You must not say something that is not true. You must obey my rules.

12You must not use the name of your God to say a promise. This will make my name unclean. I am the LORD.

13You must not rob another person. You must not keep a slave’s money until the morning.

14You must not speak bad words about a person who cannot hear. You must not put something in front of a person who cannot see. The person might fall. I am the LORD.

15My people must be fair to other people. They must not be more kind to a rich or important man than to a poor one. They must be fair to rich people and to poor people.

16They must not speak bad words about other people. They must not do anything that would cause a man to die. I am the LORD.

17You must not think bad thoughts about another person. A person may do something that is wrong. You must tell him that he is doing a wrong thing. If you do, you will not be a part of the wrong thing.

18You must not hurt another person because he hurt you. And you must not remember for a long time the bad thing that someone did to you. You must love all people as you love yourself. I am the LORD.

19The people must obey God’s rules. They must not let two different kinds of animals have sex together. They must not put two different kinds of seeds in one field. They must not make clothes from two different materials.

20A slave girl belongs to a man. Another man must not have sex with her. If he does, he is doing a wrong thing. But the girl is not free. He has not bought her. You must punish them. But you must not kill them because the girl was not free. 21The man must bring a male sheep to the door of the Tent of Meeting. It is an offering to the LORD. 22The priest will sacrifice the gift to the LORD. The sacrifice will atone for the man’s sin. Then the LORD will forgive the man.

23A person may plant a fruit tree in the country called Canaan. But he must not eat the fruit for (3) three years. 24In the 4th (fourth) year, the fruit is holy. It is an offering to show that the LORD is great. 25In the 5th year, the people can eat the fruit. If they do this, the trees will give much fruit to the people. I am the LORD your God.

26You must not eat any meat that has the blood in it. People must not do magic. They must not use magic to try to discover things that might happen.

27A man must not cut the hair on the sides of his head. He must not cut the edges of his beard.

28He must not cut his body to remember the dead people. He must not paint his body. I am the LORD your God.

29He must not sell his daughter for sex. You would make her ashamed. If he does this, all the people might do the same. The whole country would become full of sin.

30God has said what the people can do on the day for rest (Sabbath). On the day for rest, the people must do only those things. They must respect the LORD‘s house. I am the LORD.

31They must not ask people who do magic to help them. That would make Israel’s people unclean. I am the LORD your God.

32The people must stand up when they are with old people. They must respect the old people. They must give honour to their God. I am the LORD your God.

33A foreign person may live in your country. You must be kind to him or to her. 34People must love the person from a different country as they love themselves. They must remember the time when they lived in Egypt. Egypt was not their country. I am the LORD your God.

35They must be fair when they are measuring space or weight or quantity. 36They must use correct measures and weights. I am the LORD that led them out of Egypt.

37They must obey all my rules. I am the LORD.’