Selected Chapters from Leviticus

    Acts of Immorality Forbidden

Chapter 18

 

1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.

3  After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

4  Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.

5  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

6  None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

7  The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

8  The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

9  The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

10  The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

11  The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

12  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.

13  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.

14  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

15  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

16  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.

17  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

18  Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

19  Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

20  Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her.

21  And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

22  Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

23  Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

24  Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

25  And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

26  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

27  (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

28  That the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you.

29  For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30  Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

     

    Laws of Holiness and Justice

Chapter 19

 

1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2  Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

3  Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

4  Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

5  And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

6  It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.

7  And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.

8  Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

9  And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

10  And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

11  Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

13  Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

14  Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

15  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

16  Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the LORD.

17  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.

18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.

19  Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle engender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee.

20  And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

21  And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.

22  And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

23  And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

24  But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.

25  And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.

26  Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

27  Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

28  Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

29  Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

30  Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

31  Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

32  Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

33  And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

34  But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

35  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

36  Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37  Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.

 

    The Penalties for Acts of Immorality

Chapter 20

 

1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2  Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3  And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

4  And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:

5  Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

6  And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

7  Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

8  And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

9  For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

10  And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

11  And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

12  And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

13  If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

14  And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

15  And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

16  And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

17  And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

18  And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19  And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.

20  And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21  And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

22  Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spew you not out.

23  And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

24  But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

25  Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

26  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

27  A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

 

    (The Appointed Feasts : Num 28:16-29:40)

 

Chapter 23

 

1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

3  Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

4  These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

5  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.

6  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

7  In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

8  But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

9  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12  And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf a he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

13  And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

14  And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the LORD.

19  Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20  And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

21  And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22  And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

23  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

24  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

25  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

26  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

27  Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

28  And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.

29  For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

30  And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

31  Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32  It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

33  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

34  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

35  On the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

36  Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

37  These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

38  Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.

39  Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

40  And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

41  And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

42  Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:

43  That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

44  And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

    Sabbath Years and the Year of Jubilee

Chapter 25

1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

3  Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4  But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5  That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

6  And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7  And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

8  And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9  Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10  And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11  A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

12  For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13  In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14  And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15  According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

16  According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

17  Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.

18  Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.

19  And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

20  And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21  Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

22  And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

23  The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

24  And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25  If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.

26  And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27  Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the surplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

28  But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29  And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

30  And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established forever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.

31  But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee.

32  Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33  And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34  But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

35  And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

36  Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37  Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

38  I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

39  And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

40  But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee:

41  And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42  For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43  Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor; but shalt fear thy God.

44  Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

45  Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begot in your land: and they shall be your possession.

46  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigor.

47  And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family:

48  After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49  Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

50  And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.

51  If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

52  And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.

53  And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight.

54  And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.

55  For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

 

 

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