Daily Text and Bible Reading: Friday, February 7 [Press play below]

19.1 Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying:
19.2 “Speak to the entire assembly of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You should be holy, because I, Jehovah your God, am holy.
19.3 “‘Each of you should respect his mother and his father, and you should keep my sabbaths. I am Jehovah your God.
19.4 Do not turn to worthless gods or make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am Jehovah your God.
19.5 “‘Now if you offer a communion sacrifice to Jehovah, you should sacrifice it in such a way that you gain approval for yourselves.
19.6 It should be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the next day, but what is left over until the third day should be burned in the fire.
19.7 If, though, any of it is eaten on the third day, it is an offensive thing that will not be accepted with approval.
19.8 The one eating it will answer for his error because he has profaned a holy thing of Jehovah, and that person must be cut off from his people.
19.9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not reap the edge of your field completely and you must not pick up the gleaning of your harvest.
19.10 Also, you must not gather the leftovers of your vineyard or pick up the scattered grapes of your vineyard. You should leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am Jehovah your God.
19.11 “‘You must not steal, you must not deceive, and you must not deal falsely with one another.
19.12 You must not swear to a lie in my name and thus profane the name of your God. I am Jehovah.
19.13 You must not defraud your fellow man, and you must not rob. You should not withhold the wages of a hired worker all night until morning.
19.14 “‘You must not curse a deaf man or put an obstacle before a blind man, and you must be in fear of your God. I am Jehovah.
19.15 “‘You must not be unjust in your judgment. You must not show partiality to the poor or show preference to the rich. With justice you should judge your fellow man.
19.16 “‘You must not go around spreading slander among your people. You must not stand up against the life of your fellow man. I am Jehovah.
19.17 “‘You must not hate your brother in your heart. You should by all means reprove your fellow man, so that you will not bear sin along with him.
19.18 “‘You must not take vengeance nor hold a grudge against the sons of your people, and you must love your fellow man as yourself. I am Jehovah.
19.19 “‘You should keep my statutes: You must not interbreed two sorts of your domestic animals. You must not sow your field with two sorts of seed, and you must not wear a garment made with two sorts of thread mixed together.
19.20 “‘Now if a man lies down with a woman and has intercourse with her and she is a servant who is designated for another man, but she has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there should be a punishment. However, they should not be put to death, for she was not yet set free.
19.21 He should bring his guilt offering to Jehovah to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram of guilt offering.
19.22 The priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Jehovah for the sin that he committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin that he committed.
19.23 “‘When you come into the land and you plant any tree for food, you must consider its fruitage impure and forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you. It must not be eaten.
19.24 But in the fourth year, all its fruit will be holy for rejoicing before Jehovah.
19.25 Then in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit in order to add its produce to your harvest. I am Jehovah your God.
19.26 “‘You must eat nothing containing blood “‘You must not look for omens or practice magic.
19.27 “‘You must not shave the hair on the side of your head or disfigure the edges of your beard.
19.28 “‘You must not make cuts in your flesh for a dead person, and you must not make tattoo markings on yourselves. I am Jehovah.
19.29 “‘Do not dishonor your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land may not commit prostitution and be filled with loose morals.
19.30 “‘You must keep my sabbaths, and you must show reverence for my sanctuary. I am Jehovah.
19.31 “‘Do not turn to the spirit mediums, and do not consult fortune-tellers so as to become unclean by them. I am Jehovah your God.
19.32 “‘Before gray hair you should rise up, and you must show honor to an older man, and you must be in fear of your God. I am Jehovah.
19.33 “‘If a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not mistreat him.
19.34 The foreigner who resides with you should become to you like a native among you; and you must love him as yourself, for you were foreign residents in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.
19.35 “‘You must not use dishonest standards in measuring length, weight, or volume.
19.36 You should use accurate scales, accurate weights, an accurate dry measure, and an accurate liquid measure. I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
19.37 So you must keep all my statutes and all my judicial decisions, and you must follow them. I am Jehovah.’”
20.1 Jehovah went on speaking to Moses, saying:
20.2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man of Israel and any foreigner who resides in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech should be put to death without fail. The people of the land should stone him to death.
20.3 I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech and has defiled my holy place and has profaned my holy name.
20.4 If the people of the land should deliberately close their eyes to what that man does when he gives his offspring to Molech and they do not put him to death,
20.5 then I myself will certainly set my face against that man and his family. I will cut off that man from his people along with all who join him in prostituting themselves to Molech.
20.6 “‘As for the person who turns to the spirit mediums and the fortune-tellers so as to commit spiritual prostitution with them, I will certainly turn against that person and cut him off from his people.
20.7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and become holy, because I am Jehovah your God.
20.8 And you must keep my statutes and carry them out. I am Jehovah, who is sanctifying you.
20.9 “‘If there is any man who curses his father or his mother, he should be put to death without fail. Since he has cursed his father or his mother, his own blood is upon him.
20.10 “‘Now regarding a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife: The one who commits adultery with the wife of his fellow man should be put to death without fail, the adulterer and the adulteress.
20.11 A man who lies down with his father’s wife has exposed his father to shame. Both of them should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.
20.12 If a man lies down with his daughter-in-law, both of them should be put to death without fail. They have violated what is natural. Their own blood is upon them.
20.13 “‘If a man lies down with a male the same as one lies down with a woman, both of them have done a detestable thing. They should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.
20.14 “‘If a man takes a woman and her mother, it is an obscene act. They should burn him and them in the fire, so that obscene conduct may not continue among you.
20.15 “‘If a man has intercourse with a beast, he should be put to death without fail, and you should kill the beast.
20.16 If a woman approaches any beast to have intercourse with it, you must kill the woman and the beast. They should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.
20.17 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of the sons of their people. He has exposed his sister to shame. He should answer for his error.
20.18 “‘If a man lies down with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, both he and she have exposed her flow of blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.
20.19 “‘You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, because that would be exposing a blood relative to shame. They should answer for their error.
20.20 A man who lies down with his uncle’s wife has exposed his uncle to shame. They should answer for their sin. They should die childless.
20.21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is something abhorrent. He has exposed his brother to shame. They should become childless.
20.22 “‘You must keep all my statutes and all my judicial decisions and carry them out, so that the land where I am bringing you to dwell will not vomit you out.
20.23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nations that I am driving out from before you; for they have done all these things and I abhor them.
20.24 That is why I said to you: “You will take possession of their land, and I will give it to you as your possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. Jehovah your God I am, who has set you apart from the peoples.”
20.25 You must make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean; you must not make yourselves loathsome by means of an animal or a bird or anything that creeps on the ground that I set apart for you to regard as unclean.
20.26 You must be holy to me, because I, Jehovah, am holy, and I am setting you apart from the peoples to become mine.
20.27 “‘Any man or woman who acts as a spirit medium or is a fortune-teller should be put to death without fail. The people should stone them to death. Their own blood is upon them.’”
21.1 Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “Talk to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘No one should defile himself for a dead person among his people.
21.2 But he may do so for a close blood relative, for his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
21.3 and he may defile himself for his sister if she is a virgin who is near to him and has not yet married.
21.4 He may not defile himself and make himself profane for a woman who belongs to a husband of his people.
21.5 They should not make their heads bald or shave off the fringe of their beard or make cuts on their body.
21.6 They should be holy to their God, and they should not profane the name of their God, for they are presenting Jehovah’s offerings made by fire, the bread of their God, and they must be holy.
21.7 They should not marry a prostitute, a woman who has been defiled, or a woman divorced from her husband, because the priest is holy to his God.
21.8 You must sanctify him, because he is one presenting the bread of your God. He should be holy to you, because I, Jehovah, the one sanctifying you, am holy.
21.9 “‘Now if the daughter of a priest should profane herself by committing prostitution, she is profaning her father. She should be burned in the fire.
21.10 “‘The high priest of his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been installed to wear the priestly garments, should not let his head go ungroomed or tear his garments.
21.11 He should not approach any dead person; he may not defile himself even for his father or his mother.
21.12 He should not go out from the sanctuary and should not profane the sanctuary of his God, for the sign of dedication, the anointing oil of his God, is upon him. I am Jehovah.
21.13 “‘He must take as a wife a woman who is a virgin.
21.14 He may not marry a widow, a divorced woman, one who has been defiled, or a prostitute; but he should take a virgin from his people as a wife.
21.15 He should not profane his offspring among his people, for I am Jehovah, who is sanctifying him.’”
21.16 Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying:
21.17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to present the bread of his God.
21.18 If there is any man who has a defect, he may not approach: a man who is blind or lame or has a disfigured face or one limb too long,
21.19 a man with a fractured foot or a fractured hand,
21.20 a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man with an eye defect or eczema or ringworm or damaged testicles.
21.21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect may approach to present Jehovah’s offerings made by fire. Because he has a defect, he may not approach to present the bread of his God.
21.22 He may eat the bread of his God from the most holy things and from the holy things.
21.23 However, he may not come near the curtain, and he may not approach the altar, because there is a defect in him; and he should not profane my sanctuary, for I am Jehovah, who is sanctifying them.’”
21.24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites.