LEV

Leviticus 19

KJV

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak 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. 6It 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. 7And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted. 8Therefore 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. 10And 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. 21And 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. 22And 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. 24But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal. 25And 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. 27Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. 28Ye 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. 34But 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. 36Just 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. 37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.

Matthew Henry's chapter overview

Introduction

Leviticus 19

Some ceremonial precepts there are in this chapter, but most of them are moral. One would wonder that when some of the lighter matters of the law are greatly enlarged upon (witness two long chapters concerning the leprosy) many of the weightier matters are put into a little compass: divers of the single verses of this chapter contain whole laws concerning judgment and mercy; for these are things which are manifest in every man's conscience; men's own thoughts are able to explain these, and to comment upon them. I. The laws of this chapter, which were peculiar to the Jews, are, 1. Concerning their peace-offerings (Lev 19:5-8). 2. Concerning the gleanings of their fields (Lev 19:9, Lev 19:10). 3. Against mixtures of their cattle, seed, and cloth (Lev 19:19). 4. Concerning their trees (Lev 19:23-25). 5. Against some superstitious usages (Lev 19:26-28). But, II. Most of these precepts are binding on us, for they are expositions of most of the ten commandments. 1. Here is the preface to the ten commandments, "I am the Lord," repeated fifteen times. 2. A sum of the ten commandments. All the first table in this, "Be you holy," (Lev 19:2). All the second table in this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour" (Lev 19:18), and an answer to the question, "Who is my neighbour?" (Lev 19:33, Lev 19:34). 3. Something of each commandment. (1.) The first commandment implied in that which is often repeated here, "I am your God." And here is a prohibition of enchantment (Lev 19:26) and witchcraft (Lev 19:31), which make a god of the devil. (2.) Idolatry, against the second commandment, is forbidden, (Lev 19:4). (3.) Profanation of God's name, against the third (Lev 19:12). (4.) Sabbath-sanctification is pressed (Lev 19:3, Lev 19:30). (5.) Children are required to honour their parents (Lev 19:3), and the aged (Lev 19:32). (6.) Hatred and revenge are here forbidden, against the sixth commandment (Lev 19:17, Lev 19:18). (7.) Adultery (Lev 19:20-22), and whoredom (Lev 19:29). (8.) Justice is here required in judgment (Lev 19:15), theft forbidden (Lev 19:11), fraud and withholding dues (Lev 19:13), and false weights (Lev 19:35, Lev 19:36). (9.) Lying (Lev 19:11). Slandering (Lev 19:14). Tale-bearing, and false-witness bearing (Lev 19:16). (10.) The tenth commandment laying a restraint upon the heart, so does that (Lev 19:17), "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart." And here is a solemn charge to observe all these statutes (Lev 19:37). Now these are things which need not much help for the understanding of them, but require constant care and watchfulness for the observing of them. "A good understanding have all those that do these commandments."

Cross-references: Lev 19:5 · Lev 19:9 · Lev 19:10 · Lev 19:19 · Lev 19:23 · Lev 19:26 · Lev 19:2 · Lev 19:18 · Lev 19:33 · Lev 19:34 · Lev 19:31 · Lev 19:4 · Lev 19:12 · Lev 19:3 · Lev 19:30 · Lev 19:32 · Lev 19:17 · Lev 19:20 · Lev 19:29 · Lev 19:15 · Lev 19:11 · Lev 19:13 · Lev 19:35 · Lev 19:36 · Lev 19:14 · Lev 19:16 · Lev 19:37