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19:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
19:2 Speak 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.
19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
19:5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.
19:6 It 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.
19:7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
19:8 Therefore 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.
19:9 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.
19:10 And 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.
19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
19:12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
19:13 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.
19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
19:16 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.
19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
19:18 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.
19:19 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.
19:20 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.
19:21 And 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.
19:22 And 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.
19:23 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.
19:24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.
19:25 And 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.
19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
19:29 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.
19:30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
19:32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.
19:33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
19:34 But 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.
19:35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
19:36 Just 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.
19:37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.


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King James Bible:Leviticus
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Leviticus
Book: Leviticus
Chapter: 19

Overview:
Various laws.
- There are some ceremonial precepts in this Chapter, but most
of these precepts are binding On us, for they are explanations
of The Ten Commandments. It is required that Israel be a holy
people, because the God of Israel is a holy God, ver. 2. To
teach real separation from the world and the Flesh, and entire
devotedness to God. This is now the Law of Christ; may the Lord
bring every thought within us into obedience to it! Children are
to be obedient to their parents, ver. 3. The fear here
required includes inward reverence and esteem, outward respect
and obedience, care to please them and to make them easy. God
only is to be worshipped, ver. 4. Turn not from the true God
to false ones, from the God who will make you holy and happy, to
those that will deceive you, and make you for ever miserable.
Turn not your eyes to them, much less your Heart. They should
leave the gleanings of their Harvest and vintage for the Poor,
ver. 9. Works of Piety must be always attended with Works of
Charity, according to our ability. We must not be covetous,
griping, and greedy of every thing we can lay claim to, nor
insist upon our right in all things. We are to be honest and
true in all our dealings, ver. 11. Whatever we have in the
world, we must see that we get it honestly, for we cannot be
truly rich, or long rich, with that which is not So. Reverence
to the sacred name of God must be shown, ver. 12. We must not
detain what belongs to another, particularly the Wages of the
Hireling, ver. 13. We must be tender of the credit and safety
of those that cannot help themselves, ver. 14. Do No hurt to
any, because they are unwilling or unable to avenge themselves.
We ought to take heed of doing any thing which may occasion our
weak Brother to fall. The fear of God should keep us from doing
wrong things, though they will not expose us to men's Anger.
Judges, and all in authority, are commanded to give Judgment
without partiality, ver. 15. To be a Tale-bearer, and to sow
discord among neighbours, is as bad an office as a Man can Put
himself into. We are to rebuke our neighbour in Love, ver. 17.
Rather rebuke him than hate him, for an injury done to thyself.
We incur guilt By not reproving; it is hating our Brother. We
should say, I will do him the kindness to tell him of his
faults. We are to Put off all malice, and to Put On brotherly
Love, ver. 18. We often wrong ourselves, but we soon forgive
ourselves those wrongs, and they do not at all lessen our Love
to ourselves; in like manner we should Love our neighbour. We
must in many cases deny ourselves for the good of our neighbour.
Ver. 31: For Christians to have their fortunes told, to use
spells and charms, or the like, is a sad affront to God. They
must be grossly ignorant who ask, "What harm is there in these
things?" Here is a charge to young people to show respect to the
aged, ver. 32. Religion teaches good manners, and obliges us
to honour those to whom honour is due. A charge was given to the
Israelites to be very tender of strangers, ver. 33. Strangers,
and the Widows and fatherless, are God's particular care. It is
at our peril, if we do them any wrong. Strangers shall be
welcome to God's Grace; we should do what we can to recommend
religion to them. Justice in Weights and measures is commanded,
ver. 35. We must make Conscience of obeying God's precepts. We
are not to pick and choose our duty, but must aim at standing
complete in all the will of God. And the nearer our lives and
tempers are to the precepts of God's Law, the happier shall we
be, and the happier shall we make all around us, and the better
shall we adorn the Gospel.

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