Leviticus 19 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1445 BC, in the Sinai year between the exodus and the journey to Canaan
Location
The Sinai camp, with rules anticipating farms, courts, and markets Israel did not yet have
Audience
The whole assembly of Israel, explicitly gathered for this address rather than the priests alone
Situation
God gives a broad collection of commands mixing worship, farming, business honesty, care for the poor and disabled, sexual conduct, and fair courts. The chapter includes the command to love your neighbor as yourself and to treat the foreigner as a native born citizen.
Key Background
The chapter deliberately restates several of the ten commandments and scatters them among rules about wages, scales, and harvest, refusing to separate religious duty from commercial fairness. Leaving the edges of a field unharvested was Israel's welfare system, since the poor gathered food by working rather than by receiving handouts, a practice later shown in the story of Ruth. Jesus quoted the neighbor command from this chapter as one of the two greatest, which is why these verses carry weight far beyond their original farming setting.
spoke to Moses:
Speak to the entire Israelite and tell them: Be because I, Yahweh your God, am
"Each of you must your mother and your father, and you must keep my I am Yahweh your God."
"Don't turn to and don't cast metal gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God."
"When you sacrifice a to Yahweh, sacrifice it in a way that makes you
"It must be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or the next day. Whatever is left over by the third day must be burned up."
"If any of it is eaten on the third day, it's — it will not be accepted."
Whoever eats it will the of their because they treated what to as ordinary. That person will be from their people.
"When you your land, don't all the way to the edges of your field, and don't pick up what's left over from your
"Don't go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and for the I am Yahweh your God."
"Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't each other."
"Don't swear falsely by my name and so the name of your God. I am Yahweh."
"Don't your neighbor or rob them. Don't hold back a hired worker's wages overnight."
"Don't curse a deaf person or put an obstacle in front of a blind person. Instead, I am Yahweh."
"Don't Don't show favoritism to the poor or defer to the powerful. Judge your neighbor fairly."
"Don't go around among people. Don't by is in I am Yahweh."
"Don't harbor hatred toward brother or sister in heart. so you don't end up in their
"Don't take revenge or hold a grudge against anyone among your people, but your as you yourself. I am Yahweh."
"Keep my Don't crossbreed different kinds of animals. Don't plant two kinds of seed in your field. Don't wear clothing made from two different materials."
"If a man sleeps with a woman who is a slave designated for another man, and she hasn't been freed or given her freedom papers, there must be an But they won't be put to death, because she hadn't been freed."
"The man must bring his to Yahweh at the entrance of the — a ram as a
"The priest will use the ram of the guilt offering to for the man before Yahweh for the he committed, and his will be forgiven."
"When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, treat its fruit as for three years. It must not be eaten."
In the fourth year, all its fruit to as an of
"In the fifth year, you may eat its fruit. This way, its yield will increase for you. I am Yahweh your God."
"Don't eat anything with the blood still in it. Don't practice or
"Don't the at the of your head or trim the edges of your beard."
"Don't in for the and don't yourselves. I am Yahweh."
"Don't your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with depravity."
Keep my Sabbaths and show respect for the for me. I am Yahweh.
"Don't turn to or seek out — they will make you I am Yahweh your God."
"Stand up in the presence of the and show respect to the Fear your God. I am Yahweh."
"When an lives with you in your land, don't them."
"The immigrant living among you must be treated as them as you because you were immigrants in Egypt. I am Yahweh your God."
"Don't use when measuring length, weight, or volume."
"Use weights, an dry measure, and an liquid measure. I am Yahweh your God, who you out of
"Keep all my and all my and follow them. I am Yahweh."