Leviticus 19

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Other rules

19 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Speak to Israel's people. They must be holy because I am holy. You must tell them that.

³ Each person must respect his mother and his father. All the people must keep the Sabbath as a day of rest. I am the Lord your God.

⁴ You must not worship idols. You must not use metal to make gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

⁵ When a person sacrifices a friendship offering to the Lord, he must obey the rules. If he does, the Lord will accept the gift. ⁶ The people must eat the meat on the day that the person offers it. Or they must eat it on the next day. The person must burn any meat that he has not eaten after the second day. ⁷ On the third day, the meat is not clean. ⁸ If he eats the meat on the third day he makes unclean a gift that is holy to the Lord. You must send him away from the camp.

⁹ When a person cuts the plants in his field, he must not cut to the edge of the field. He must not pick up what he drops. ¹⁰ If a person grows fruit to make wine, he must not pick all the fruit. He must not pick up the fruit that drops. The fruit that drops is for the poor people. And it is for those who are foreign. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ You must not take something that belongs to another person. You must not say something that is not true. You must obey my rules.

¹² You must not use the name of your God to say a promise. This will make my name unclean. I am the Lord.

¹³ You must not rob another person. You must not keep a slave's money until the morning.

¹⁴ You must not speak bad words against a person who is deaf. You must not put something in front of a blind person, to make them fall down. I am the Lord. Obey me.

¹⁵ You must be fair to other people when you judge them. You must not be more kind to a rich person than to a poor person. You must be fair to everyone.

¹⁶ You must not speak bad words about other people. If somebody is in danger of death, do not keep quiet if you know the truth. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ You must not think bad thoughts about another person. A person may do something that is wrong. You must tell him that he is doing a wrong thing. If you do, you will not be a part of the wrong thing.

¹⁸ You must not try to punish a person who has done something wrong against you. You must not continue to hate a person like that. Instead, you must love other people as much you love yourself. I am the Lord.

¹⁹ The people must obey God's rules. They must not let two different kinds of animals have sex together. They must not put two different kinds of seeds in one field. They must not make clothes from two different materials.

²⁰ A slave girl belongs to a man. Another man must not have sex with her. If he does, he is doing a wrong thing. But the girl is not free. He has not bought her. You must punish them. But you must not kill them because the girl was not free. ²¹ The man must bring a male sheep to the door of the Tent of Meeting. It is an offering to the Lord. ²² The priest will sacrifice the gift to the Lord. The sacrifice will atone for the man's sin. Then the Lord will forgive the man.

²³ When you go into Canaan, a person may plant a fruit tree there. But he must not eat the fruit for three years. ²⁴ In the fourth year, the fruit is holy. It is an offering to praise the Lord. ²⁵ In the fifth year, the people can eat the fruit. If they do this, the trees will give much fruit to the people. I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ You must not eat any meat that has the blood in it. You must not do magic. You must not use magic to learn about future times.

²⁷ A man must not cut the hair on the sides of his head. He must not cut the edges of his beard.

²⁸ He must not cut his body to remember the dead people. He must not paint his body. I am the Lord your God.

²⁹ He must not sell his daughter for sex. You would make her ashamed. If he does this, all the people might do the same. The whole land would become full of sin.

³⁰ God has said what the people can do on the Sabbath day of rest. On the day of rest, the people must do only those things. They must respect the Lord's house. I am the Lord.

³¹ They must not ask people who do magic to help them. That would make Israel's people unclean. I am the Lord your God.

³² The people must stand up when they are with old people. They must respect the old people. They must give honour to their God. I am the Lord your God.

³³ A foreign person may live in your land. You must be kind to him or to her. ³⁴ People must love the person from a different country as they love themselves. They must remember the time when they lived in Egypt. Egypt was not their country. I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ They must be fair when they measure length or weight or size. ³⁶ They must use correct weights and measures. I am the Lord your God. I led you out of Egypt.

³⁷ They must obey all my rules. I am the Lord.’