Leviticus 19
Big idea: This is the chapter where Leviticus shows what it means. It opens with the thesis — you shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy — spoken not to priests but to all the congregation, and then works it out in a list that refuses to separate worship from ethics. Sabbath and idols sit next to leaving the corners of your field unreaped. The prohibition on false oaths sits next to paying a hired man before nightfall. Not cursing the deaf or tripping the blind sits next to just weights and measures. Twice the chapter reaches its high point: love your neighbor as yourself, and — for the foreigner — you shall love him as yourself, for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 19 tells Israel what holiness looks like. Chapter 20 revisits the same ground with the penalties attached, and states the reason once more: I have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
19:1–8 — You shall be holy
Spoken to all the congregation: you shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. The first applications are startlingly ordinary — respect your mother and father, keep my Sabbaths, don't turn to idols or make molten gods. Then a rule already given in chapter 7 is repeated: a peace offering is eaten the day it is offered and the next; anything left to the third day is burned, and eating it then is an abomination that profanes the holy thing of Yahweh.
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. 3 “‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God. 4 “‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God. 5 “‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; 8 but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
19:9–18 — Gleanings, wages, and your neighbour
Don't reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings; don't strip the vineyard or gather fallen grapes — leave them for the poor and the foreigner. Don't steal, lie, or deceive; don't swear falsely by my name. Don't oppress or rob your neighbour, and don't keep a hired servant's wages overnight. Don't curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind — but fear your God. Judge without partiality to poor or great. Don't slander, don't endanger your neighbour's life, don't hate your brother in your heart but rebuke him honestly, don't take vengeance or bear a grudge — but love your neighbor as yourself.
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God. 11 “‘You shall not steal. “‘You shall not lie. “‘You shall not deceive one another. 12 “‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 13 “‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 “‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh. 15 “‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. 16 “‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh. 17 “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
19:19–25 — Mixtures, a slave girl, and young trees
Three prohibitions on mixing: crossbreeding animals, sowing a field with two kinds of seed, wearing a garment of two materials. Then a hard case: a man who lies with a slave girl pledged to another and not yet freed — they are punished, but not put to death, because she was not free; he brings a ram for a trespass offering and is forgiven. Finally, newly planted fruit trees: three years the fruit is forbidden, in the fourth all of it is holy for giving praise to Yahweh, and in the fifth you may eat it.
19 “‘You shall keep my statutes. “‘You shall not cross-breed different kinds of animals. “‘You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; “‘Don’t wear a garment made of two kinds of material. 20 “‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. 23 “‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh. 25 In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.
19:26–32 — The occult, the body, and the gray head
Don't eat meat with the blood still in it; don't use enchantments or practise sorcery. Don't cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip the edge of your beard; don't make cuttings in your flesh for the dead or tattoo marks on you. Don't profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall to prostitution. Keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. Don't turn to mediums or wizards, or seek them out to be defiled by them. And: rise up before the gray head, honour the face of the elderly, and fear your God.
26 “‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery. 27 “‘You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard. 28 “‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh. 29 “‘Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness. 30 “‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh. 31 “‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God. 32 “‘You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
19:33–37 — Love the foreigner; keep just weights
If a foreigner lives with you in your land, do not do him wrong. He shall be to you as the native-born, and you shall love him as yourself — for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. Then commercial honesty: no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, weight or quantity; just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin. And the chapter closes: observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.
33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. 35 “‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 “‘You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.’”
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).