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.
- List some of the directions the Lord gives to Israel through Moses.
- List them as positives and negatives.
- How does the Lord list the punishments for evil doers?
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