Leviticus 19 · WEB
The Holiness Code: Love Your Neighbor
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.
3"'Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
4"'Don't turn to idols, nor make cast images for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
5"'When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire.
7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted;
8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh. That soul 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, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
11"'You shall not steal. You shall not deal falsely. You shall not lie to one another.
12"'You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
13"'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14"'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
15"'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
16"'You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
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 Yahweh.
19"'You shall keep my statutes. You shall not crossbreed different kinds of animals. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed. You shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
20"'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a servant girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, a ram for a trespass offering.
22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed; and he will be forgiven for his sin which he has committed.
23"'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
24But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh.
25In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.
26"'You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
27"'You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.
28"'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.
29"'Don't profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
30"'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.
31"'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
32"'You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
33"'If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
35"'You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
36You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.'"
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Summary
Chapter 19 is the ethical heart of Leviticus and arguably one of the richest chapters in the entire Bible. Opening with "Be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy," it covers an extraordinarily wide range of ethical commands: honoring parents, keeping the Sabbath, leaving harvest gleanings for the poor, prohibiting theft, false dealing and slander, showing partiality in judgment, and cruelty to the vulnerable. At its center is the command "love your neighbor as yourself" (v. 18), later cited by Jesus as the second greatest commandment. The command is extended to foreigners (v. 34). The chapter repeatedly grounds ethical behavior in God's covenant identity: "I am Yahweh your God."
Themes
- Holiness is practical and relational, not just ceremonial
- Love of neighbor is the summary of social ethics
- The Exodus shapes Israel's ethics — because you were foreigners, love foreigners
- God's covenant identity ("I am Yahweh") is the repeated foundation for every command
Key verses
- Lev 19:18 — “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 Yahweh.”
- Lev 19:2 — “You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.”
- Lev 19:34 — “The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”
Context & background
Chapter 19 is at the structural center of Leviticus and the entire Pentateuch. Given at Mount Sinai (modern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt), it is sometimes called a "second Decalogue" because it touches on themes from all ten commandments. Jesus cited Leviticus 19:18 as the "second greatest commandment" (Matt 22:39) and Paul calls it the summary of the law (Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14). James calls it "the royal law" (Jas 2:8). The care for foreigners in verse 34 is particularly striking in its appeal to Israel's own experience of being foreigners in Egypt — ethical empathy rooted in historical memory and theological identity.
Cross-references
- Jas 2:8 — "The royal law" — James quotes Lev 19:18
- Matt 22:36-40 — Jesus cites Lev 19:18 as the second greatest commandment
- Matt 5:43-48 — Jesus expands "love your neighbor" to include loving enemies
- Rom 13:9 — Paul says all the commandments are summed up in "love your neighbor as yourself"
- Ruth 2:1-23 — Boaz practices the gleaning law of Lev 19:9-10 by leaving grain for Ruth