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Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19 grounds Israel’s worship and treatment of others in the holiness and authority of YHWH.

YHWH tells Moses to address the whole congregation of Israel with commands grounded in his own holiness. These laws place worship alongside conduct in fields, homes, and courts. Israel must honor parents, keep Sabbaths, and reject idols. The people must also leave food for the poor and treat neighbors and foreigners with justice. Rules about offerings, clothing, and mourning stand beside commands against hatred and revenge. The repeated declaration of God’s identity gives these commands their authority.

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2“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy.
3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
4“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.
5“‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted;
8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
9“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
11“‘You shall not steal. “‘You shall not lie. “‘You shall not deceive one another.
12“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13“‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14“‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
15“‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
16“‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
17“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
19“‘You shall keep my statutes. “‘You shall not cross-breed different kinds of animals. “‘You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; “‘Don’t wear a garment made of two kinds of material.
20“‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21He shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering.
23“‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
24But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to the LORD.
25In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am the LORD your God.
26“‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
27“‘You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard.
28“‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am the LORD.
29“‘Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
30“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am the LORD.
31“‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
32“‘You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
33“‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
35“‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
36You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37“‘You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am the LORD.’”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Leviticus 19:18The command to love your neighbor follows prohibitions against hatred and revenge, making love concrete within Israel’s shared life.
Leviticus 19:2God’s own holiness supplies the reason for the whole congregation to obey the commands that follow.
Leviticus 19:3Respect for parents and Sabbath keeping bring the opening call to holiness into household life and the pattern of time.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus and Deuteronomy share commands concerning parents, Sabbaths, and justice, while Proverbs shares the concern for honest weights. Matthew and James repeat the command to love one’s neighbor, and 1 Peter draws on the call to holiness grounded in God’s own holiness.

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After reading the whole chapter

Which command most challenges how you connect worship with your treatment of other people?

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How does Israel’s past as foreigners shape the love required in verses 33–34?

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 19

What does “love your neighbor as yourself” mean in Leviticus 19?

Verse 18 places love beside commands against vengeance and grudges. The surrounding laws give it concrete shape through fair judgment, honest dealings, and protection from harm. Although verse 18 speaks within Israel’s community, verse 34 also commands love for the foreigner living among them.

Does Leviticus 19:28 forbid tattoos?

Verse 28 forbids Israel to tattoo marks on the body and to make cuts in the flesh for the dead. Mourning for the dead is explicit for the cutting prohibition; the tattoo prohibition’s precise scope is less clear. The verse does not explain every marking practice it addresses or discuss modern tattooing.

Why does Leviticus 19 forbid mixing fabrics and seeds?

Verse 19 groups restrictions on crossbreeding animals, sowing two kinds of seed, and wearing garments made from two kinds of material. It gives no explicit reason for these restrictions. They belong to Israel’s commanded holiness, but claims about their precise symbolism go beyond what this chapter explains.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).