The Israelites must consecrate themselves to the Lord
1The Lord said to Moses: 2‘You must tell all the people from the congregation_of_Israel: “You must consecrate yourselves to Me because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3You must respect your parents and do what the law of the Sabbath day says. I am the Lord your God.
4Do not start serving_idols and do not make images of gods. I am the Lord your God.
5When you sacrifice a meal-offering for the Lord, you must do it in the right way so that the Lord will accept it. 6You may eat the meat on the day that you kill the animal and on the next day. But if there is meat left over on the 3rd day, you must burn it. 7If someone eats that meat on the 3rd day, the Lord will not accept it, because that meat is impure. 8I will punish the person who eats that meat. He will be guilty because he has not respected something that was consecrated to the Lord. You must cut that person off from his people.
9When you harvest wheat or barley, you must not cut off everything. You must leave those that grow on the sides and in the corners of your fields. And if some of the wheat or barley falls onto the ground, you may not pick it up. 10When you pick grapes, you may not go for the 2nd time to pick all the grapes in your vineyard. You may not pick up the grapes that have fallen onto the ground. You must leave some of the grapes and wheat for the poor people and strangers.
11You may not steal something that belongs to another person. You may not lie to other people or deceive them.
12You may not lie or swear falsely when you say God is your Witness. If you do that, then you do not respect the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13You may not cheat other people and take something that belongs to them for yourself. If someone has worked for you, you must pay him on that day. You may not keep his money until the next day.
14You may not curse a deaf man and you may not put something in the way of a blind man so that he falls over it. You must respect your God and serve Him. I am the Lord your God.
15When you judge people, you may not do it in a wrong way. If someone is guilty, you may not say he is innocent. It does not_matter if he is poor or rich. You must be fair when you judge.
16Do not tell people bad things about other people. Don't do anything that is dangerous to the lives of other people. I am the Lord.
17You may not hate another person. Tell someone if he has done something bad, then you will not be guilty with him.
18If another Israelite has done something bad to you, do not try and do the same bad thing to him, and do not stay angry with him. You must love other people as you love yourself. I am the Lord.
19Keep on doing what I tell you in my laws. Do not let animals mate with animals of a different kind. Do not sow different seeds in the same field. Do not wear clothes that you have made of different kinds of material.
20If a man has sex with a woman who is a slave girl but her owner has promised that another man may marry her, then this is what you must do. If the girl is still a slave, then you must punish the man who had sex with her, but you must not kill him because she was not free, and she was still a slave. 21The man must bring a guilt-offering to the Lord at the entrance of the tent of the Lord. The guilt-offering must be a sheep ram. 22The priest must sacrifice the guilt-offering to make atonement for the sin that the man has done. Then the Lord will forgive his sin.
23When you come into the land of Canaan and you plant trees, then you may not eat the fruit of the trees for 3 years. 24In the 4th year you must consecrate all the fruit to the Lord to thank Him. 25From the 5th year you may eat the fruit, then there will be lots of fruit. I am the Lord your God.
26You may not eat meat which still has blood in it. You may not do any kind of witchcraft or fortune-telling.
27You may not cut the hair on the sides of your head and beard. 28You may not cut your bodies or make drawings on your skin. I am the Lord.
29You may not make your daughter become a prostitute because then you will take away her honour and then people in the land will do the same and you will become unfaithful to God.
30You must obey the law of my Sabbath day and you must respect my temple. I am the Lord.
31You may not talk to mediums or spiritists. If you do, you will become impure. I am the Lord your God.
32You must stand up when an old man or woman comes to you. You must respect them and you must fear God and serve Him. I am the Lord.
33If there is a stranger who is living in your land, you may not make him suffer. 34You must do the same to a stranger as you do to an Israelite. You must love him as you love yourself, because you were also strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
35Do not cheat people when you measure and weigh things. 36You must use honest balance-scales and weights so that you are right when you weigh and measure an ephah or a hin. You must be honest. I am the Lord your God who saved you from the land of Egypt. 37You must do everything that I say and decide. I am the Lord.” ’
