February
13th Leviticus 19 Holiness and Justice
1: And the LORD spake 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 ought 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 neighbour, 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 honour the person of the
mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16: Thou shalt not
go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand
against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 17: Thou shalt not hate thy
brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, 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 neighbour as thyself: I am the
LORD. 19: Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with
a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a
garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. 20: And whosoever lieth
carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an 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 honour 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.
Leviticus
20 Penalties for sin
1: And the LORD spake 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
neighbour'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,
spue 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.
In chapter 19 the Lord pleads with Israel to live
lives of holiness before him and to practise justice. Then in chapter 20 the
lord outlines what is appropriate punishment on evil doers. The lord says first
of all Be Holy because l the LORD your God am holy. The children of Israel are to
fear their parents and keep the Sabbaths of the Lord. They are to keep well
away from idols and the peace offerings are to be freewill offerings. None of
the peace offering is to be left over till another day. What is left is to be
burnt up completely. Christians can learn from this that their devotion is to
be a daily excersize and yesterdays devotion is no good today. For Israel this was
a very serious matter because anything left till the third day was an
abomination. (The word abomination comes from the foul smell of a rotting
corpse. It is disgusting and reprehensible.) The Lord said that at harvest the
land owner is not to reap the corners of his field but to leave it for the poor
and the stranger. The poor must work but their must be work for them to do.
Even the vines were not to be gathered completely and food must be left for the
poor. No Israelite is to steal or deal unfairly or dishonestly or to deceive
each other. No Israelite is to use Gods name to confirm a lie. No man is to
defraud him neighbour or take anything by force or to delay payment for wages.
Every working man must be paid before the sun set. There must be no cursing of
the deaf (Or speaking about someone that cannot hear it and give an answer) or
deliberately placing of a stumbling block in front of a blind man. The men of Israel are to
fear the Lord and the Lord will repay the sins against those who cannot fight
for themselves. in law there must be no bribery of the judge. Nor must there be
an undue respect of dignitaries or despising of the poor. The men of Israel are not
to be gossips, telling stories of other people. No man it to hate his brother
in his heart, nor must a man rebuke his neighbour. No man must seek revenge or
bear a grudge against the Lord’s people. Men are to love their neighbour as
they would love themselves. The cattle are not to be bred across the species.
The seed is not to be sown as a mixed crop. Even the clothes that are worn are
to be either wool or linen, but not to be mixed. If a slave woman lies with a
man that is not her husband she is to be scourged but not executed because she
was not completely free to do her own will. When Israel came into the promised land
the fruit trees were not allowed to be eaten for three years. In the forth year
the fruit is the Lords and in the fifth year it may be eaten. Israel must
never eat anything with blood in it and they must not make spells as witches
do, nor use horoscopes. They must not use methods to change the shape of their
skulls or cut the corners of their beards. The children of Israel must not
have tattoos. They must not turn their daughters into prostitutes, because if
they do the whole land would become full of wickedness. Israel is to
keep the Sabbaths and show reverence to the sanctuary. They are not to have
regard to those who are possessed with demons nor to seek the actions of
wizards that will defile them. Old while haired men are to be respected. If a
stranger lives in your land you are to show kindness to them because you were
strangers in the land
of Egypt. There must be
absolute honesty in justice, trade and commerce. Israel was obliged to keep the
commandments of the Lord. Then the Lord turned his attention to the punishment
of evil. The first great evil was the ritual sacrifice of children to the
heathen god Molech. Those who did this abomination were to be executed by
stoning. Those who allow them to live will be executed with them. Those who are
demon possessed and use it for profit are to be executed along with the
wizards. Those who curse their parents will be executed. Those who commit adultery
are to be stoned to death, both parties. Those who are incestuous are to be
stoned. The man who has the mother and her daughter is to be burned by fire. If
a man lies with a beast both will be killed. A man who lies with a woman in the
time of her month is to be executed. Then the Lord describes a number of other
cases of incest. The Land will vomit out of it those who do these abominations.
The Lord warns Israel
not to be like the nations that will be turned out of the promised land. It
will be a land of excessive milk and honey production. The hills will literally
flow with milk and honey. They are to respect the difference between clean and
unclean animals and fowls. The children of Israel are to be holy to the LORD
because the LORD is holy.
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