Old Testament · Law

Leviticus 19

Love Your Neighbor

The command Jesus called second-greatest appears here first — surrounded by practical instructions for justice, honesty, and compassion.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV

1Then the LORD said to Moses,

2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

5When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance.

6It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up.

7If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted.

8Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.

9When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

10You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

11You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

12You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

13You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

14You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

16You must not go about spreading slander among your people.

17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

19You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.

20If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.

21The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as his guilt offering to the LORD.

22The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed.

23When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.

24In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD.

25But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.

26You must not eat anything with blood still in it.

27You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

28You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

29You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.

30You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.

31You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

32You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

33When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.

34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

35You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.

36You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and follow them. I am the LORD.”

Understand This

Leviticus 19, explained

What Leviticus 19 is saying

The holiness code's heart: 'Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.' Practical holiness is defined through a remarkable mixture of ritual and ethical commands: Sabbath observance, care for the poor (leaving field edges for gleaners), honest dealing, prompt payment of wages, justice for the disabled, impartial courts, and the climactic command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Fair measurements, care for immigrants, and honest business practices follow.

The background behind it

This chapter integrates cultic, ethical, and social legislation in a way unparalleled in ancient law codes. The gleaning laws here directly underlie the Ruth narrative. Jesus identified 'love your neighbor as yourself' (v. 18) as the second greatest commandment (Mark 12:31), and Paul called it the summary of the law (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14).

Themes running underneath

Holiness is defined as comprehensive ethical living, not merely ritual correctness. The chapter demolishes any division between 'religious' duties and 'social' ethics—Sabbath, gleaning, honest scales, and neighbor-love all flow from the same source: imitating a holy God. The immigrant command ('love the stranger as yourself') extends the neighbor-love command across ethnic boundaries.

Why it still matters

This chapter provides the Old Testament's most complete vision of practical holiness. 'Love your neighbor as yourself' is not a vague sentiment but a specific program: pay fair wages, don't exploit the vulnerable, treat the immigrant as native-born, and maintain honest business practices.

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Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.