SCRIPTURE: LEVITICUS 19
BIBLE VERSES:
“The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:1-2)
VARIOUS LAWS:
- Respect your mother and father (v. 3a)
- Observe my Sabbaths (v. 3b)
- Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. (v. 4)
- Sacrifice a fellowship offering according to my instruction. (v. 5)
- Do not reap the harvest of your land, do not reap the very edges of your field or the gleanings of your harvest. (v. 9a)
- Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. (v. 9b)
- Do not steal (v. 11a)
- Do not lie (v. 11b)
- Do not deceive one another (v. 11c)
- Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. (v. 12)
- Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. (v. 13a)
- Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. (v. 13b)
- Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. (v. 14)
- Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. (v. 15)
- Do not go about spreading slander among your people. (v. 16a)
- Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. (v. 16b)
- Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. (v. 17)
- D not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. (v. 18)
- Keep my decrees. (v. 19a)
- Do not mate different kinds of animals. (v. 19b)
- Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. (v. 10c))
- Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. (v. 19d)
- There must be due punishment to a man who sleeps with a woman who is a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given freedom. (v. 20)
- Any kind of fruit being planted are forbidden to eat for 3 years. In the 4rd year, the fruit will be holy, an offering praise to the Lord. You must eat its fruit in the 5th year. (c, 23-25)
- Doi not eat any meat with the blood still in it. (v. 26a)
- Do not practice divination or sorcery. (v. 26b)
- Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. (v. 27)
- Do not cut your bodies for the dead of put tattoo marks on yourselves (v. 28)
- Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute. (v. 219)
- Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. (v. 30)
- Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. (v. 31)
- Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. (v. 32)
- When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. ( v. 33)
- The alin living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love him as yourself for you were aliens in Egypt before. (v. 34)
- Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. (v. 35)
- Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. (v. 36)
- Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. (v. 37)
THOUGHTS:
God commanded His people to be holy because He is a holy God. His laws involve many aspects of our lives: home, time, food, labor, business, and neighbor for us to follows.
God tells us to treat foreigners as we treat fellow countrymen, to love them because we are all foreigners in this world. Take the opportunity to demonstrate God’s love to foreigners.