14.
1 "You are
the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the
front of your head for the dead.
2 "For you
are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a
people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the
face of the earth.
3 "You
shall not eat any detestable thing.
4 "These
are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 "the
deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the
antelope, and the mountain sheep.
6 "And you
may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts,
and that chews the cud, among the animals.
7
"Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall
not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew
the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you.
8 "Also
the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew
the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.
9 "These
you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and
scales.
10 "And whatever
does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 "All
clean birds you may eat.
12 "But
these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,
13 "the
red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds;
14 "every
raven after its kind;
15 "the
ostrich, the short-eared owl, the seagull, and the hawk after their kinds;
16 "the
little owl, the screech owl, the white owl,
17 "the
jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl,
18 "the
stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.
19 "Also
every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.
20 "You
may eat all clean birds.
21 "You
shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is
within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for
you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in
its mother's milk.
22 "You
shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year
by year.
23 "And
you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make
His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the
firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD
your God always.
24 "But if
the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe,
or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from
you, when the LORD your God has blessed you,
25 "then
you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the
place which the LORD your God chooses.
26 "And
you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep,
for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there
before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
27 "You
shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor
inheritance with you.
28 "At the
end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year
and store it up within your gates.
29 "And
the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the
stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come
and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work
of your hand which you do.
15.
1 "At the
end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.
2 "And
this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his
neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his
brother, because it is called the LORD'S release.
3 "Of a
foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed
by your brother,
4 "except
when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the
land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance--
5 "only if
you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all
these commandments which I command you today.
6 "For the
LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many
nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they
shall not reign over you.
7 "If
there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your
land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor
shut your hand from your poor brother,
8 "but you
shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his
need, whatever he needs.
9 "Beware
lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, 'The seventh year, the
year of release, is at hand,' and your eye be evil against your poor brother
and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become
sin among you.
10 "You
shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to
him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works
and in all to which you put your hand.
11 "For
the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You
shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your
land.'
12 "If
your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you
six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
13 "And
when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away
empty-handed;
14 "you
shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from
your winepress. From what the LORD has blessed you with, you shall give to him.
15 "You
shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your
God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.
16 "And if
it happens that he says to you, 'I will not go away from you,' because he loves
you and your house, since he prospers with you,
17 "then
you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall
be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.
18 "It
shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has
been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the LORD your
God will bless you in all that you do.
19 "All
the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify
to the LORD your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor
shear the firstborn of your flock.
20 "You
and your household shall eat it before the LORD your God year by year in the
place which the LORD chooses.
21 "But if
there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you
shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
22 "You
may eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat
it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer.
23 "Only
you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.
16.
1 "Observe
the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month
of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2
"Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the
flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name.
3 "You
shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread
with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of
Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the
land of Egypt all the days of your life.
4 "And no
leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall
any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight
until morning.
5 "You may
not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God
gives you;
6 "but at
the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall
sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time
you came out of Egypt.
7 "And you
shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses, and in the
morning you shall turn and go to your tents.
8 "Six
days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a
sacred assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it.
9 "You
shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the
time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.
10 "Then
you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a
freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God
blesses you.
11 "You
shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter,
your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates,
the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place
where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.
12 "And
you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to
observe these statutes.
13 "You
shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from
your threshing floor and from your winepress.
14 "And
you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male
servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless
and the widow, who are within your gates.
15 "Seven
days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the
LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and
in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.
16 "Three
times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place
which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and
at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD
empty-handed.
17 "Every
man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God
which He has given you.
18 "You
shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God
gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just
judgment.
19 "You
shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for
a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
20 "You
shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land
which the LORD your God is giving you.
21 "You
shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which
you build for yourself to the LORD your God.
22 "You
shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
17.
1 "You
shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish
or defect, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.
2 "If
there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God
gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your
God, in transgressing His covenant,
3 "who has
gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of
the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
4 "and it
is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it
is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in
Israel,
5 "then
you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that
wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.
6 "Whoever
is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three
witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
7 "The
hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and
afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from
among you.
8 "If a
matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for
bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or
another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go
up to the place which the LORD your God chooses.
9 "And you
shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days,
and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.
10 "You
shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place
which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that
they order you.
11
"According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you,
according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn
aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce
upon you.
12 "Now
the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister
there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall
put away the evil from Israel.
13 "And
all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.
14 "When
you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and
dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are
around me,'
15 "you
shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among
your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over
you, who is not your brother.
16 "But he
shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt
to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that
way again.'
17
"Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;
nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
18 "Also
it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for
himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the
Levites.
19 "And it
shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may
learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this
law and these statutes,
20 "that
his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from
the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his
days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.