Leviticus, 19

1. The LORD said to Moses,

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

2. "Tell the Israelites: Anyone, whether an Israelite or an alien residing in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall be put to death. Let his fellow citizens stone him.

2. 'Speak to the whole community of Israelites and say: "Be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.

3. I myself will turn against such a man and cut him off from the body of his people; for in giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.

3. "Each of you will respect father and mother. "And you will keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God.

4. Even if his fellow citizens connive at such a man's crime of giving his offspring to Molech, and fail to put him to death,

4. "Do not turn to idols and do not cast metal gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.

5. I myself will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who join him in his wanton worship of Molech.

5. "If you offer a communion sacrifice to Yahweh, make it in such a way as to be acceptable.

6. Should anyone turn to mediums and fortune-tellers and follow their wanton ways, I will turn against such a one and cut him off from his people.

6. It must be eaten the same day or the day after; whatever is left on the third day must be burnt.

7. Sanctify yourselves, then, and be holy; for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

7. If eaten on the third day it would be rotten food and not be acceptable.

8. Be careful, therefore, to observe what I, the LORD, who make you holy, have prescribed.

8. Anyone who eats it must bear the consequences of this guilt, having profaned Yahweh's holiness; that person will be outlawed from his people.

9. "Anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death; since he has cursed his father or mother, he has forfeited his life.

9. "When you reap the harvest of your land, you will not reap to the very edges of the field, nor will you gather the gleanings of the harvest;

10. If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.

10. nor will you strip your vineyard bare, nor pick up the fallen grapes. You will leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am Yahweh your God.

11. If a man disgraces his father by lying with his father's wife, both the man and his stepmother shall be put to death; they have forfeited their lives.

11. "You will not steal, nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your fellow-citizen.

12. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; since they have committed an abhorrent deed, they have forfeited their lives.

12. You will not swear by my name with intent to deceive and thus profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.

13. You will not exploit or rob your fellow. You will not keep back the labourer's wage until next morning.

14. If a man marries a woman and her mother also, the man and the two women as well shall be burned to death for their shameful conduct, so that such shamefulness may not be found among you.

14. You will not curse the dumb or put an obstacle in the way of the blind, but will fear your God. I am Yahweh.

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

15. "You will not be unjust in administering justice. You will neither be partial to the poor nor overawed by the great, but will administer justice to your fellow-citizen justly.

16. If a woman goes up to any animal to mate with it, the woman and the animal shall be slain; let them both be put to death; their lives are forfeit.

16. You will not go about slandering your own family, nor will you put your neighbour's life in jeopardy. I am Yahweh.

17. If a man consummates marriage with his sister or his half-sister, they shall be publicly cut off from their people for this shameful deed; the man shall pay the penalty of having had intercourse with his own sister.

17. You will not harbour hatred for your brother. You will reprove your fellow-countryman firmly and thus avoid burdening yourself with a sin.

18. If a man lies in sexual intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them shall be cut off from their people, because they have laid bare the flowing fountain of her blood.

18. You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge against, the members of your race, but will love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh.

19. You shall not have intercourse with your mother's sister or your father's sister; whoever does so shall pay the penalty of incest.

19. "You will keep my laws. "You will not mate your cattle with those of another kind; you will not sow two kinds of grain in your field; you will not wear a garment made from two kinds of fabric.

20. If a man disgraces his uncle by having intercourse with his uncle's wife, the man and his aunt shall pay the penalty by dying childless.

20. "If someone has intercourse with a woman who is the concubine slave of a man from whom she has not been redeemed and she has not been given her freedom, he will be liable for a fine, but they will not incur death, since she was not a free woman.

21. If a man marries his brother's wife and thus disgraces his brother, they shall be childless because of this incest.

21. He will bring a sacrifice of reparation for Yahweh to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. This will be a ram of reparation,

22. "Be careful to observe all my statutes and all my decrees; otherwise the land where I am bringing you to dwell will vomit you out.

22. and with the ram of reparation the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh for the sin committed; and the sin he has committed will be forgiven.

23. Do not conform, therefore, to the customs of the nations whom I am driving out of your way, because all these things that they have done have filled me with disgust for them.

23. "Once you have entered the country and planted any kind of fruit tree, you will regard its fruit as uncircumcised. For three years you will count it as uncircumcised and it will not be eaten;

24. But to you I have said: Their land shall be your possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am giving it to you as your own, I, the LORD, your God, who have set you apart from the other nations.

24. in the fourth year, all its fruit will be consecrated to Yahweh in a feast of praise;

25. You, too, must set apart, then, the clean animals from the unclean, and the clean birds from the unclean, so that you may not be contaminated with the uncleanness of any beast or bird or of any swarming creature in the land that I have set apart for you.

25. and in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, so that it may yield you even more. I am Yahweh your God.

26. To me, therefore, you shall be sacred; for I, the LORD, am sacred, I, who have set you apart from the other nations to be my own.

26. "You will eat nothing with blood in it. You will not practise divination or magic.

27. "A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortune-teller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death."

27. "You will not round off your hair at the edges or trim the edges of your beard.

28.

28. You will not gash your bodies when someone dies, and you will not tattoo yourselves. I am Yahweh.

29.

29. "Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country itself will become prostituted and filled with incest.

30.

30. "You will keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.

31.

31. "Do not have recourse to the spirits of the dead or to magicians; they will defile you. I, Yahweh, am your God.

32.

32. "You will stand up in the presence of grey hair, you will honour the person of the aged and fear your God. I am Yahweh.

33.

33. "If you have resident aliens in your country, you will not molest them.

34.

34. You will treat resident aliens as though they were native-born and love them as yourself -- for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

35.

35. "You will not be unjust in administering justice as regards measures of length, weight or capacity.

36.

36. You will have just scales, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt;

37.

37. hence you are to keep all my laws and all my customs and put them into practice. I am Yahweh." '