Day 46 · Part 3: Out of Egypt
Be Holy (1 of 2)
In the Story
In context
Leviticus 18–20 are laws for the whole people, not only the priests. Chapter 18 opens, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt … You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan” (Leviticus 18:3). It speaks plainly about sex: it names the close relatives no one was to sleep with, forbids adultery, and forbids giving children as sacrifices to the god Molech (Leviticus 18:6–21).
Chapter 19 begins, “You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy,” and gathers laws for everyday life: leave the corners of the field and the fallen grapes for the poor and the foreigner; pay a hired worker before morning; don’t curse the deaf or trip the blind; keep honest weights and measures (Leviticus 19:2, 9–14, 35–36). Many of the laws end with the words “I am Yahweh.”
Verse 18 holds the words “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus named it the second commandment, after loving God (Mark 12:29–31), and Paul wrote that the other commandments “are all summed up” in it (Romans 13:9). Verse 34 says the same of the foreigner: “you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt.”
who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners. Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down. Yahweh loves the righteous. Yahweh preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.
Psalms 146:7–9 · Leviticus 19 looks after the poor, the foreigner and the blind; this psalm praises the Lord who feeds the hungry, opens blind eyes and preserves foreigners.
For families
Among the laws for everyday life are two about parents and the old: “Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father” (Leviticus 19:3), and “You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly” (Leviticus 19:32).
What is something an older person in your family taught you?
In the Bible
World English Bible, as published by eBible.org (public domain).
Leviticus 18
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Leviticus 19
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A hymn for today
Holy, Holy, Holy · words by Reginald Heber
- Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!
- Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
- Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,Only Thou art holy; there is none beside TheePerfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.
- Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!