Leviticus 19; Leviticus 20; Leviticus 21

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Leviticus 19

2 to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

3 Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the Lord your God.

4 "Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the Lord your God.

5 "When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering.

6 The meat must be eaten on the day the animal is killed or on the next day. Any meat left on the third day must be burned,

7 because it is ritually unclean, and if anyone eats it, I will not accept the offering.

8 Any who eat it will be guilty of treating as ordinary what is dedicated to me, and they will no longer be considered my people.

9 "When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left.

10 Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.

11 "Do not steal or cheat or lie.

12 Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the Lord your God.

13 "Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.

14 Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the Lord your God.

15 "Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich.

16 Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the Lord.

17 "Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them.

18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

19 "Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material.

20 "If a slave woman is the recognized concubine of a man and she has not been paid for and freed, then if another man has sexual relations with her, they will be punished, but not put to death, since she is a slave.

21 The man shall bring a ram to the entrance of the Tent of my presence as his repayment offering,

22 and with it the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to remove the man's sin, and God will forgive him.

23 "When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it.

24 In the fourth year all the fruit shall be dedicated as an offering to show your gratitude to me, the Lord.

25 But in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you do all this, your trees will bear more fruit. I am the Lord your God.

26 "Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic.

27 Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard

28 or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the Lord.

29 "Do not disgrace your daughters by making them temple prostitutes; if you do, you will turn to other gods and the land will be full of immorality.

30 Keep the Sabbath, and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the Lord.

31 "Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord your God.

32 "Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the Lord.

33 "Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land.

34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

35 "Do not cheat anyone by using false measures of length, weight, or quantity.

36 Use honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures. I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt.

37 Obey all my laws and commands. I am the Lord."

Leviticus 20

1 The Lord told Moses

2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community.

3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people.

4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death,

5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people.

6 "If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people.

7 Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God.

8 Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy."

9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death.

10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death.

11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death.

13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you.

15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death.

16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

17 If a man marries his sister or half sister, they shall be publicly disgraced and driven out of the community. He has had intercourse with his sister and must suffer the consequences.

18 If a man has intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, both of them are to be driven out of the community, because they have broken the regulations about ritual uncleanness.

19 If a man has intercourse with his aunt, both of them must suffer the consequences for incest.

20 If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife, he disgraces his uncle, and he and the woman will pay the penalty; neither one will have children.

21 If a man takes his brother's wife, they will die childless. He has done a ritually unclean thing and has disgraced his brother.

22 The Lord said, "Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be rejected by the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.

23 Do not adopt the customs of the people who live there; I am driving out those pagans so that you can enter the land. They have disgusted me with all their evil practices.

24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations.

25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean.

26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone.

27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

Leviticus 21

1 The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Aaronite priests, "No priest is to make himself ritually unclean by taking part in the funeral ceremonies when a relative dies,

2 unless it is his mother, father, son, daughter, brother,

3 or unmarried sister living in his house.

4 He shall not make himself unclean at the death of those related to him by marriage.

5 "No priest shall shave any part of his head or trim his beard or cut gashes on his body to show that he is in mourning.

6 He must be holy and must not disgrace my name. He offers food offerings to me, and he must be holy.

7 A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or a woman who is not a virgin or who is divorced; he is holy.

8 The people must consider the priest holy, because he presents the food offerings to me. I am the Lord; I am holy and I make my people holy.

9 If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she shall be burned to death.

10 "The High Priest has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been consecrated to wear the priestly garments, so he must not leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothes to show that he is in mourning.

11 He has been dedicated to me and is not to make himself ritually unclean nor is he to defile my sacred Tent by leaving it and entering a house where there is a dead person, even if it is his own father or mother.

13 He shall marry a virgin,

14 not a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has been a prostitute. He shall marry only a virgin from his own clan.

15 Otherwise, his children, who ought to be holy, will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord and I have set him apart as the High Priest."

16 The Lord commanded Moses

17 to tell Aaron, "None of your descendants who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come.

18 No man with any physical defects may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

19 no one with a crippled hand or foot;

20 no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch.

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me.

22 Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering,

23 but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the Lord and I make them holy."

24 This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.