Leviticus 19:19-37
Set Apart from the Nations
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. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
The LORD gives Israel further statutes that mark the people as distinct. They are not to mate different kinds of animals, sow a field with two kinds of seed, or wear a garment made from two kinds of material. The commands make difference visible in daily life.
If a man sleeps with a slave woman who is promised to another man, both are punished, but not with death because she was not free. A fruit tree is treated as forbidden for its first three years, and its fruit is not eaten. In the fourth year the fruit is dedicated to the LORD, and in the fifth it may be eaten.
Israel must not eat meat with blood, practice divination, round the hair at the temples, cut the edges of the beard, cut the body for the dead, or mark the skin. The people must keep the Sabbaths and reverence God's sanctuary.
The chapter protects the vulnerable in several ways: do not profane a daughter by making her a prostitute, do not oppress the foreigner, and use honest scales and weights. The foreigner is to be loved as one of Israel because Israel was a foreigner in Egypt. Distinctness never becomes permission to cheat or despise.
How We Know
These commands belong to Israel's covenant identity and should not be turned into a random list of universal prohibitions while neighboring commands are ignored. The repeated concern is that Israel's worship, bodies, agriculture, commerce, and treatment of foreigners should not be absorbed into the surrounding nations' practices.
Questions
1 What was forbidden in a field?
AnswerIsrael was not to sow a field with two kinds of seed.
2 When could fruit from a new tree be eaten?
AnswerThe fruit could be eaten in the fifth year after the earlier years were set apart.
3 How was the foreigner to be treated?
AnswerThe foreigner was to be loved as one of Israel because Israel had been a foreigner in Egypt.
4 What must merchants use?
AnswerMerchants must use honest scales, weights, measures, and balances.
What This Means for Us
Israel's distinctness is meant to produce faithful community, not superiority. The same chapter that marks Israel as different commands honest trade and love for the outsider.
Be careful when identity language becomes an excuse for contempt. A faithful community can have real convictions while treating foreigners, customers, workers, and neighbors with fairness.
Prayer
God, make our convictions honest and our treatment of others generous. Help us live distinctly without pride, protect outsiders from exploitation, and remember the mercy you have shown us. Amen.