Study Desk

Do not gather what is left among your vines, or gather the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for those in need and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

‘Do not make it hard for your neighbor or rob him. You should not keep the pay of a man who works for you until the next morning.

If a man lies with a woman who is a servant, promised to another man, but has not been paid for or made free, they must be punished. But they will not be put to death, because she was not free.

He will bring his guilt gift to the Lord at the door of the meeting tent. A ram will be used for the guilt gift before the Lord.

With it the religious leader will go through the worship of washing to take away the man's sin, and he will be forgiven for the sin he has done.

‘When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, think of their fruit as being something you should not touch. You should not touch it for three years. It must not be eaten.

In the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, so they may give more food for you. I am the Lord your God.

Do not make any cuts on your body for the dead. Do not burn any pictures that will stay on your body. I am the Lord.

You should act toward the stranger who lives among you as you would toward one born among you. Love him as you love yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

So you should set yourselves apart and be holy. For I am the Lord your God.

‘If there is anyone who curses his father or mother, he will for sure be put to death. Because he has cursed his father or mother, his blood will be on his own head.

If a man lies with his father's wife, he has put his father to shame. Both of the guilty ones must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin.

If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done a bad sex sin. They will suffer for their own sin.

If a man lies with a male as if he were a woman, both of them have done a very sinful act. They must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin.

If a woman goes near any animal to have sex with it, you must kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They will suffer for their own sin.

‘If a man takes his sister, his father's or mother's daughter, and he sees her without clothes on and she sees him, it is a shame. They will be punished in front of their people. He has taken off his sister's clothes. He will suffer for his own sin.

Do not take the clothes off your mother's sister or father's sister. For that is putting to shame one of your own family. They will suffer for their own sin.

If a man lies with the wife of his father's or mother's brother, he has put to shame his father's or mother's brother. They will suffer for their own sin. They will die without children.

Do not follow the ways of the nation which I am driving out before you. For they did all these things, and so I hated them.

But I have said to you, "Their land will belong to you. I Myself will give it to you for your own, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the Lord your God, Who has set you apart from all other peoples.