New King James Version (NKJV)

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

1 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them:‘You shall be holy, for I theLordyour God am holy.

3 ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, andkeep My Sabbaths: I am theLordyour God.

4 ‘Do not turn to idols,nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am theLordyour God.

5 ‘Andif you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to theLord, you shall offer it of your own free will.

6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.

7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted.

8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of theLord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

9 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.

10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am theLordyour God.

11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely,nor lie to one another.

12 And you shall notswear by My name falsely,nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am theLord.

13 ‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him.The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.

14 You shall not curse the deaf,nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am theLord.

15 ‘You shall do no injustice injudgment. You shall notbe partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

16 You shall not go about as atalebearer among your people; nor shall youtake a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am theLord.

17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart.You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people,but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am theLord.

19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who isbetrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to theLord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering.

22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before theLordfor his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

23 ‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten.

24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to theLord.

25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am theLordyour God.

26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.

27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.

28 You shall notmake any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am theLord.

29 ‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

30 ‘You shall keep My Sabbaths andreverence My sanctuary: I am theLord.

31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek afterthem, to be defiled by them: I am theLordyour God.

32 ‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, andfear your God: I am theLord.

33 ‘Andif a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.

34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, andyou shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am theLordyour God.

35 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume.

36 You shall havehonest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am theLordyour God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am theLord.’ ”

Penalties for Breaking the Law

1 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel:‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shallstone him with stones.

3 I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.

4 And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him,

5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

6 ‘Andthe person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am theLordyour God.

8 And you shall keepMy statutes, and perform them:I am theLordwho sanctifies you.

9 ‘Foreveryone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother.His blood shall be upon him.

10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.

11 The man who lies with hisfather’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

12 If a man lies with hisdaughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.

13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

14 If a man marries a woman and hermother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.

15 If a man mates with ananimal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.

16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

17 ‘If a man takes hissister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his guilt.

18 If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.

19 ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of yourmother’s sister nor of yourfather’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt.

20 If a man lies with hisuncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 If a man takes hisbrother’s wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

22 ‘You shall therefore keep all Mystatutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwellmay not vomit you out.

23 And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, andtherefore I abhor them.

24 ButI have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am theLordyour God,who has separated you from the peoples.

25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean,and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

26 And you shall be holy to Me,for I theLordam holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

Regulations for Conduct of Priests

1 And theLordsaid to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people,

2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother;

3 also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself.

4 Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

5 ‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

6 They shall beholy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of theLordmade by fire, and thebread of their God;therefore they shall be holy.

7 They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a womandivorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.

8 Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, forI theLord, whosanctify you, am holy.

9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall beburned with fire.

10 ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil waspoured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall notuncover his head nor tear his clothes;

11 nor shall he gonear any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;

12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for theconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am theLord.

13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

14 A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife.

15 Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I theLordsanctify him.’ ”

16 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

17 “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.

18 For any man who has adefect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limbtoo long,

19 a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,

20 or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.

21 No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to theLord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

22 He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;

23 only he shall not go near theveil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lesthe profane My sanctuaries; for I theLordsanctify them.’ ”

24 And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

1 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, that theyseparate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that theydo not profane My holy name by what theydedicate to Me: I am theLord.

3 Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to theLord,while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am theLord.

4 ‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is aleper or hasa discharge, shall not eat the holy offeringsuntil he is clean. Andwhoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, ora man who has had an emission of semen,

5 orwhoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, orany person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be—

6 the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless hewashes his body with water.

7 And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, becauseit is his food.

8 Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am theLord.

9 ‘They shall therefore keepMy ordinance,lest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I theLordsanctify them.

10 ‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing.

11 But if the priestbuys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food.

12 If the priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings.

13 But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food; but no outsider shall eat it.

14 ‘And if a man eats theholy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.

15 They shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to theLord,

16 or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I theLordsanctify them.’ ”

Offerings Accepted and Not Accepted

17 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them:‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to theLordas a burnt offering—

19 you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats.

20 Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf.

21 Andwhoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to theLord,to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

22 Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to theLord, nor makean offering by fire of them on the altar to theLord.

23 Either a bull or a lamb that has any limbtoo long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

24 ‘You shall not offer to theLordwhat is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land.

25 Norfrom a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these asthe bread of your God, because theircorruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’ ”

26 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying:

27 “When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to theLord.

28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both herand her young on the same day.

29 And when youoffer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to theLord, offer it of your own free will.

30 On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leavenone of it until morning: I am theLord.

31 “Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am theLord.

32 You shall not profane My holy name, butI will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am theLordwhosanctifies you,

33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am theLord.”

Feasts of the Lord

1 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of theLord, which you shall proclaim to beholy convocations, these are My feasts.

The Sabbath

3 ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of theLordin all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

4 ‘These are the feasts of theLord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is theLord’s Passover.

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to theLord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to theLordfor seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf ofthe firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

11 He shallwave the sheaf before theLord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to theLord.

13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to theLord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.

14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

16 Countfifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offera new grain offering to theLord.

17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They arethe firstfruits to theLord.

18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to theLord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to theLord.

19 Then you shall sacrificeone kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of apeace offering.

20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before theLord, with the two lambs.They shall be holy to theLordfor the priest.

21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am theLordyour God.’ ”

The Feast of Trumpets

23 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In theseventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest,a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to theLord.’ ”

The Day of Atonement

26 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying:

27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to theLord.

28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement,to make atonement for you before theLordyour God.

29 For any person who is notafflicted in soul on that same dayshall be cut off from his people.

30 And any person who does any work on that same day,that person I will destroy from among his people.

31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”

The Feast of Tabernacles

33 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying:‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to theLord.

35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.

36 For seven days you shall offer anoffering made by fire to theLord.On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to theLord. It is asacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

37 ‘These are the feasts of theLordwhich you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to theLord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—

38 besides the Sabbaths of theLord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to theLord.

39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you havegathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of theLordfor seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.

40 Andyou shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook;and you shall rejoice before theLordyour God for seven days.

41 You shall keep it as a feast to theLordfor seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days.All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,

43 that your generations mayknow that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths whenI brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am theLordyour God.’ ”

44 So Mosesdeclared to the children of Israel the feasts of theLord.

Care of the Tabernacle Lamps

1 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually.

3 Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before theLordcontinually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations.

4 He shall be in charge of the lamps onthe pure gold lampstand before theLordcontinually.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

5 “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelvecakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.

6 You shall set them in two rows, six in a row,on the pure gold table before theLord.

7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for amemorial, an offering made by fire to theLord.

8 Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before theLordcontinually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

9 Andit shall be for Aaron and his sons,and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of theLordmade by fire, by a perpetual statute.”

The Penalty for Blasphemy

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp.

11 And the Israelite woman’s sonblasphemed the name of theLordandcursed; and so theybrought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)

12 Then theyput him in custody,that the mind of theLordmight be shown to them.

13 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

14 “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard himlay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his Godshall bear his sin.

16 And whoeverblasphemes the name of theLordshall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of theLord, he shall be put to death.

17 ‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.

18 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.

19 ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, ashe has done, so shall it be done to him—

20 fracture forfracture,eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.

21 And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death.

22 You shall havethe same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am theLordyour God.’ ”

23 Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as theLordcommanded Moses.

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year

1 And theLordspoke to Moses on MountSinai, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shallkeep a sabbath to theLord.

3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;

4 but in theseventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemnrest for the land, a sabbath to theLord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.

6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,

7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

8 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.

9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month;on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.

10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, andproclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession,and each of you shall return to his family.

11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in ityou shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.

12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you;you shall eat its produce from the field.

13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.

14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall notoppress one another.

15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you.

16 According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.

17 Thereforeyou shall not oppress one another,but you shall fear your God; for I am theLordyour God.

Provisions for the Seventh Year

18 ‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them;and you will dwell in the land in safety.

19 Then the land will yield its fruit, andyou will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.

20 ‘And if you say,“What shall we eat in the seventh year, sincewe shall not sow nor gather in our produce?”

21 Then I willcommand My blessing on you in thesixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.

22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eatold produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.

Redemption of Property

23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, forthe land is Mine; for you arestrangers and sojourners with Me.

24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.

25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and ifhis redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.

26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,

27 thenlet him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.

28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee;and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.

30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.

31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.

32 Neverthelessthe cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.

33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34 Butthe field of the common-land of their cities may not besold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Lending to the Poor

35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shallhelp him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.

36 Take no usury or interest from him; butfear your God, that your brother may live with you.

37 You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.

38 I am theLordyour God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

The Law Concerning Slavery

39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.

40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.

41 And then he shall depart from you—he and his childrenwith him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.

42 For they areMy servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.

43 You shall not rule over himwith rigor, but youshall fear your God.

44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.

45 Moreover you may buythe children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.

46 Andyou may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family,

48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him;

49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.

50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall beaccording to the time of a hired servant for him.

51 If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought.

52 And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.

53 He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.

54 And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him.

55 For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am theLordyour God.

Promise of Blessing and Retribution

1 ‘You shallnot make idols for yourselves;

neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves;

nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;

for I am theLordyour God.

2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary:

I am theLord.

3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,

4 then I will give you rain in its season,the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;

# you shall eat your bread to the full, anddwell in your land safely.

6 I will give peace in the land, andyou shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;

# I will rid the land ofevil beasts,

# andthe sword will not go through your land.

7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.

8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;

your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

9 ‘For I willlook on you favorably andmake you fruitful, multiply you and confirm Mycovenant with you.

10 You shall eat theold harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.

11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.

12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

13 I am theLordyour God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves;

# I have broken the bands of youryoke and made you walk upright.

14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,

15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,

16 I also will do this to you:

# I will even appoint terror over you,wasting disease and fever which shallconsume the eyes andcause sorrow of heart.

# Andyou shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 I will setMy face against you, andyou shall be defeated by your enemies.

# Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shallflee when no one pursues you.

18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish youseven times more for your sins.

19 I willbreak the pride of your power;

# Iwill make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

20 And yourstrength shall be spent in vain;

# for yourland shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.

22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number;

# andyour highways shall be desolate.

23 ‘And ifby these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,

24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

25 AndI will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant;

# when you are gathered together within your citiesI will send pestilence among you;

and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight,and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,

28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;

and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.

30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;

and My soul shall abhor you.

31 I will lay yourcities waste andbring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will notsmell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.

32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.

33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;

your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;

then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—

# for the time it did not rest on yoursabbaths when you dwelt in it.

36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will sendfaintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;

the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;

they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.

37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues;

# andyou shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38 You shallperish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39 And those of you who are leftshall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands;

# also in theirfathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

40 ‘Butif they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,

41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies;

# if theiruncircumcised hearts arehumbled, and theyaccept their guilt—

42 then I willremember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;

# I willremember the land.

43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them;

# they will accept their guilt, because theydespised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.

44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies,I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them;

for I am theLordtheir God.

45 Butfor their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors,whom I brought out of the land of Egyptin the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:

I am theLord.’ ”

46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which theLordmade between Himself and the children of Israelon Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

Redeeming Persons and Property Dedicated to God

1 Now theLordspoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:‘When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to theLord, according to your valuation,

3 if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver,according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels;

5 and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels;

6 and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver;

7 and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value forhim; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.

9 ‘If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to theLord, all that anyone gives to theLordshall be holy.

10 He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall beholy.

11 If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to theLord, then he shall present the animal before the priest;

12 and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.

13 But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.

14 ‘And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to theLord, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.

15 If he who dedicated it wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

16 ‘If a man dedicates to theLordpart of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shallreckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation.

19 And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him.

20 But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore;

21 but the field,when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to theLord, as adevoted field; it shall bethe possession of the priest.

22 ‘And if a man dedicates to theLorda field which he has bought, which is not the field ofhis possession,

23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to theLord.

24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession.

25 And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary:twenty gerahs to the shekel.

26 ‘But thefirstborn of the animals, which should be theLord’s firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether it is an ox or sheep, it is theLord’s.

27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, andshall add one-fifth to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

28 ‘Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to theLordof all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to theLord.

29 No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.

30 Andall the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is theLord’s. It is holy to theLord.

31 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.

32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whateverpasses under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to theLord.

33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad,nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’ ”

34 These are the commandments which theLordcommanded Moses for the children of Israel on MountSinai.