Leviticus 18-19

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THIS SERMON:

Leviticus 18:1-19:37

18:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! 3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes. 4 You must observe my regulations, and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God. 5 So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord.

6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations with her. I am the Lord. 7 You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. 8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 9 You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual relations with either of them. 10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness. 11 You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her. 12 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. 14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have marital relations with her. She is your aunt. 15 You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have sexual relations with her. 16 You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have sexual relations with them. They are closely related to her—it is lewdness. 18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual relations with her.

19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual relations with her. 20 You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord! 22 You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman; it is a detestable act. 23 You must not have sexual relations with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is a perversion.

24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations that I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things. 25 Therefore the land has become unclean, and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean. 28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, that person who does them will be cut off from the midst of the people. 30 You must obey my charge not to practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”

19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.

5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you. 6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day, but what is left over until the third day must be burned up. 7 If, however, it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled; it will not be accepted, 8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord. That person will be cut off from his people.

9 “‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. 12 You must not swear falsely in my name, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against your neighbor. You must not withhold the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.

15 “‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: You must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed together, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of material.

20 “‘When a man goes to bed with a woman for intercourse, although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. They must not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt-offering ram, 22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven of his sin that he has committed.

23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. Three years it will be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings to the Lord. 25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. I am the Lord your God.

26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. 27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard. 28 You must not slash your body for a dead person or incise a tattoo on yourself. I am the Lord. 29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.

30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. 32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord. 33 When a resident foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 The resident foreigner who lives with you must be to you as a native citizen among you; so you must love the foreigner as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. 36 You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. I am the Lord.’”