1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
2 Speake vnto all the Congregation of the children of Israel, and say vnto them, Ye shalbe holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.
3 ¶ Yee shall feare euery man his mother, and his father, and keepe my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
4 ¶ Turne ye not vnto idoles, nor make to your selues molten gods: I am the Lord your God.
5 ¶ And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings vnto the Lord, ye shall offer it, at your owne will.
6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remaine vntill the third day, it shalbe burnt in the fire.
7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
8 Therefore euery one that eateth it, shal beare his iniquitie, because he hath prophaned the halowed thing of the Lord; and that soule shalbe cut off from among his people.
9 ¶ And when ye reape the haruest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reape the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy haruest.
10 And thou shalt not gleane thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather euery grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leaue them for the poore and stranger: I am the Lord your God.
11 ¶ Ye shall not steale, neither deale falsly, neither lie one to another.
12 ¶ And ye shall not sweare by my Name falsly, neither shalt thou prophane the Name of thy God: I am the Lord.
13 ¶ Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired, shal not abide with thee all night, vntill the morning.
14 ¶ Thou shalt not curse the deafe, nor put a stumbling blocke before the blind, but shalt feare thy God: I am the Lord.
15 ¶ Ye shall doe no vnrighteousnes in iudgement; thou shalt not respect the person of the poore, nor honour the person of the mightie: but in righteousnesse shalt thou iudge thy neighbour.
16 ¶ Thou shalt not goe vp and downe as a tale-bearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.
17 ¶ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sinne vpon him.
18 ¶ Thou shalt not auenge nor beare any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt loue thy neighbor as thy selfe: I am the Lord.
19 ¶ Yee shall keepe my Statutes: Thou shalt not let thy cattell gender with a diuerse kinde: Thou shalt not sowe thy field with mingled seed: Neither shall a garment mingled of linnen and woollen come vpon thee.
20 ¶ And whosoeuer lieth carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid, she shall be scourged: they shall not be put to death, because she was not free:
21 And he shall bring his trespasse offering vnto the Lord, vnto the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, euen a ramme for a trespasse offering.
22 And the Priest shall make an atonement for him with the ramme of the trespasse offering before the Lord for his sinne which hee hath done: and the sinne which he hath done shall bee forgiuen him.
23 ¶ And when yee shall come in to the land, and shall haue planted all maner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit therof as vncircumcised: three yeeres shall it be as vncircumcised vnto you: it shall not be eaten of.
24 But in the fourth yeere all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withall.
25 And in the fift yeere shall ye eate of the fruit thereof, that it may yeelde vnto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God.
26 ¶ Ye shall not eate any thing with the blood, neither shall ye vse inchantment, nor obserue times.
27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou marre the corners of thy beard.
28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any markes vpon you: I am the Lord.
29 ¶ Doe not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredome, and the land become full of wickednesse.
30 ¶ Ye shall keepe my Sabbaths, and reuerence my Sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31 ¶ Regard not them that haue familiar spirits, neither seeke after Wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
32 ¶ Thou shalt rise vp before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and feare thy God: I am the Lord.
33 ¶ And if a stranger soiourne with thee in your land, yee shall not vexe him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you, shalbe as one borne amongst you, and thou shalt loue him as thy selfe, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35 ¶ Ye shall doe no vnrighteousnes in iudgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
36 Iust ballances, iust weights, a iust Ephah, and a iust Hin shall ye haue: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 Therefore shall ye obserue all my Statutes, and all my Iudgements, and doe them: I am the Lord.
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.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.