World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Leviticus 19
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1 spoke to , saying, "Speak to all of the , and tell them, 'You shall be ; for I, your , am . "'Each one of you shall respect his mother and his . You shall keep my . I am your . "'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am your . "'When you offer a of to , you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything until the third day, it shall be burned with . If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an . It will not be accepted; but everyone who eats it shall bear his , because he has profaned the thing of , and that from his people. "'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the of your harvest. You shall not your , neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your . You shall leave them for and for the . I am your . "'You shall not steal. "'You shall not lie. "'You shall not deceive one another. "'You shall not by my name falsely, and profane the name of your . I am . "'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. "'The wages of a hired servant shall not with you all night until the morning. "'You shall not the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your . I am . "'You shall do no injustice in . You shall not be partial to , nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in . "'You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. "'You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am . "'You shall not hate your brother in . You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear because of him. "'You shall not take , nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am . "'You shall keep . "'You shall not -breed different kinds of animals. "'You shall not sow your field with two kinds of ; "'Don't wear a garment made of two kinds of material. "'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her ; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to , because she was not free. He shall bring his to , to the door of the , even a ram for a . The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the before for his which he has committed; and the which he has committed shall be forgiven him. "'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be , for giving to . In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am your . "'You shall not eat any meat with still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice . "'You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard. "'You shall not make any cuttings in your for , nor tattoo any marks on you. I am . "'Don't profane your daughter, to make her a ; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness. "'You shall keep my , and reverence my sanctuary; I am . "'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am your . "'You shall rise up before the gray head and the of the elderly; and you shall fear your . I am . "'If a lives as a with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The who lives as a with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as in the land of . I am your . "'You shall do no unrighteousness in , in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. You shall have balances, weights, a ephah, and a hin. I am your , who brought you out of the land of . "'You shall observe all and all my , and do them. I am .'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.