Leviticus 19 · The Lantern

Commandments for Holiness

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am h…

Recently there was recited in the ears of the Church the word of God saying: "Be holy, for I too am holy, the Lord your God". What this name "holy" intends for itself, and what it signifies in the divine Scriptures, must be inquired into more diligently, so that, when we have learned the force of the word, we may also be able to fulfill its work.

To be sanctified is to be drawn away from any love that sullies and corrupts and may lead the soul to ruin. In this must the creature resemble the Creator: "You shall be holy," He said, "because I am holy." This holiness makes one God-conformed. That is why the Seraphic spirits cried out: "Holy, holy, holy."

Each of you shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep my sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

Do not turn to worthless idols, and molten gods you shall not make for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it for your acceptance.

It shall be eaten on the day of your sacrifice, and on the next day; and what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire.

And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is foul meat; it will not be accepted.

And whoever eats it shall bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD — and that soul shall be cut off from her people.

Love Your Neighbor

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish reaping the corner of your field, and the gleanings of your harvest you shall not gather.

And your vineyard you shall not strip bare, and the fallen grapes of your vineyard you shall not gather; for the poor and for the sojourner you shall leave them. I am the LORD your God.

You shall not steal; and you shall not deceive; and you shall not lie, one man to his fellow.

And you shall not swear by my name falsely, profaning the name of your God. I am the LORD.

You shall not extort your neighbor, and you shall not rob; the wages of a hired worker shall not stay the night with you until morning.

You shall not curse the deaf, and before the blind you shall not put a stumbling block — and you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

You shall not do injustice in judgment: you shall not lift up the face of the poor, and you shall not honor the face of the great; in righteousness you shall judge your fellow.

You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. You shall not stand by at the blood of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow — and not bear sin because of him.

You shall not take vengeance, and you shall not hold a grudge against the sons of your people — and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, o…

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

For since it is written in the law: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," he is proven to love his neighbor less who does not share with him even those things necessary to himself in his neighbor's time of need.

Keep My Statutes

You shall keep my statutes. Your beast you shall not breed with two kinds; your field you shall not sow with two kinds; and a garment of two kinds of material mixed together shall not come on you.

And when a man lies with a woman with an emission of seed, and she is a slave woman designated for another man, and she has not at all been redeemed, and freedom has not been given her — there shall be an inquiry. They shall not be put to death, for she was not free.

And he shall bring his guilt penalty to the LORD, to the door of the Tent of Meeting: a ram as a guilt offering.

And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD, for his sin that he has sinned; and he shall be forgiven for his sin that he has sinned.

And when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you — it shall not be eaten.

And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise offering to the LORD.

And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit — so that its yield may be increased for you. I am the LORD your God.

You shall not eat anything with the blood. You shall not practice divination, and you shall not read omens.

You shall not round off the corner of your head, and you shall not destroy the corner of your beard.

And a cut for the dead you shall not make in your flesh, and a tattooed inscription you shall not put on yourselves. I am the LORD.

Do not profane your daughter by making her a whore, so that the land does not fall to whoring and the land become full of depravity.

You shall keep my sabbaths, and my sanctuary you shall fear. I am the LORD.

Do not turn to mediums and to spiritists; do not seek them out, to become unclean by them. I am the LORD your God.

Before gray hair you shall rise, and you shall honor the face of the old — and you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not wrong him.

Like a native among you shall the sojourner who sojourns with you be to you — and you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

You shall not do injustice in judgment — in measure of length, in weight, or in quantity.

Righteous scales, righteous weights, a righteous ephah, and a righteous hin you shall have. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

And you shall keep all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them. I am the LORD.”

Leviticus19

Commandments for Holiness

Love Your Neighbor

Keep My Statutes