Leviticus Chapter 19

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Leviticus chapter nineteen. The Eternal One spoke to Moses. Go
talk with the community of Israel, and tell them that
they are to be holy. For I the Eternal your God,
am holy. I want all of you to honor your
mothers and fathers, and keep my sabbaths. For I am
the eternal your God. Do not turn for me to
follow useless idols or cast metal images of other gods.
For I am the eternal your God. When you sacrifice

(00:22):
a peace offering to me, present it correctly so you
are accepted. Your peace offering should be consumed the same
day you present it, or the day after. But you
must burn any of the offering that is still left
on the third day. If any of it is eaten
on the third day, your offering will not be accepted.
By then it has become foul. Anyone who consumes the
peace offering on the third day will bear his guilt

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and suffer the consequences, for he has desecrated what has
been set apart from me. That person must be cut
off from his people. When you harvest the crops of
your land, do not gather the grain all the way
to the edges of your fields, or pick up what
was overlooked during the first round of harvesting. Likewise, do
not strip the vines baar in your vineyard, or gather
the fallen grapes. Leave the fallen fruit and some grapes

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on the vine for the poor and strangers living among you.
For I am the eternal your God. Do not take
what is not yours, or conduct business dishonestly, or lie
to each other. Do not swear to a lie in
my name. If you do, my name is profaned. I
am the eternal One. Do not mistreat your neighbor or
steal from him. Do not keep the payment of a

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hired hand overnight, but compensate him for work at the
end of the day. Do not mock the disabled by
shouting a curse at a deaf person or putting something
in the way to trip up the blind. Instead, honor
and fear your God. I am the eternal One. In
a court of law, do what is just, not unjust.
Do not favor one side over the other, the poor
or the wealthy. Instead judge your neighbor fairly. Do not

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go around spreading malicious lies about other people. Do not
take a stand that would endanger your neighbour's life. I
am the eternal One. Do not harbor a deep hatred
for any of your relatives. If your neighbor is doing
something wrong, correct him, or else you could be held
responsible for his sin. Do not seek revenge or hold
a grudge against any of your people. Instead, love your

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neighbor as you love yourself. For I am the eternal One.
Honor my decrees. Do not breed two different species. Do
not plant two different sorts of seed in your fields.
Do not wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.
If a man has sexual relations with a slave woman
who is promised to another man but has not yet
been redeemed or freed, then they will face an inquiry.

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Neither the man nor the woman will be put to
death because she was a slave and not a free woman.
When the offense took place, the man must present to
me a ram as his guilt offering. At the entrance
of the congregation tent. The priest is to sacrifice the
ram of the guilt offering before me to cover the
man's guilt. Then the guilty man's sin will be forgiven.
When you go into the land and plant fruit bearing trees,

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you are not to eat the fruit. Right away. It's
off limits for three years. When the fourth year arrives,
all the fruit of those trees must be regarded as
sacred a praise offering to me. When the fifth year arrives,
you are finally allowed to eat the fruits of those trees.
If you demonstrate your faith by following this procedure, these
trees will be even more productive. I am the eternal One,

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your God. Do not consume any meat while the blood
is still in it. Do not practice divination or fortune telling.
Do not cut the hair of your temples or trim
your beard. Do not make cuts in your body for
the dead, or mark yourselves with tattoos. I am the
eternal One. Do not defile your daughter by forcing her
into prostitution. If you do, you not only corrupt her,

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but you also infect the land with prostitution and wickedness.
Keep my sabbaths and respect my sanctuary. I am the
eternal One. Do not turn to mediums or consult with
those who communicate with the spirits of the dead. Do
not go near them, or else you will defile yourselves.
I am the eternal your God. You are to stand
in respect for the older people in your community. You

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must fear your God. I am the eternal One. Don't
take advantage of any stranger who who lives in your land.
You must treat the outsider as one of your native
born people, as a full citizen, and you are to
love him in the same way you love yourself. For remember,
you are one strangers living in Egypt. I am the
Eternal One, your God. In business dealings, be fair and
do not cheat. Measure accurately, length, weight, and volume. Your

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scales are to be accurate, your weight's true, and your
container's standard. I am the Eternal your God, who led
you out of Egypt. You are to keep all my
directives and all of my rules, and do as I
have instructed. I am the eternal One.