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One-sentence summary: The Lord expounds on his law to Israel and gives detailed instruction on behaviors to abstain from, how to farm, and rules for the priests.
The Lord expounds on His laws to Israel. He tells Moses to tell the people to be holy because He is holy, to honor their mother and father, and to keep the Sabbath. They are not to turn to idols or make them. Peace offerings must be offered of their own free will, and specific instructions are given as to how to make them. When they reap their harvests, they should leave the corners and not glean, and do the same with the vineyards, to leave some for the poor and the stranger. They are not to steal, lie, or deal falsely with each other, or to swear by God's name, thereby profaning it. They should not cheat or rob their neighbor. They should pay their hired hands the same day, and they should not "curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind" but fear God. They should be just and impartial in their judgments and treat all people fairly, the poor and rich alike. They should not spread gossip nor "take a stand against the life of their neighbor." They should not hate their brother in their hearts. They must rebuke their neighbor so as not to bear sin in their heart because of him. They should not take vengeance or bear grudges, but love their neighbor as themselves. They should obey God's statutes, and they should not interbreed their livestock, or sow a field with mixed seed, or mix the materials of their garments. If anyone lies with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine and not been given her freedom, they should be wipped but not put to death, because she was not free; the man must offer a sacrifice to the priest to make atonement. When they bear fruit on trees, for three years the fruit will be counted as uncircumcised, and on the fourth year it will be considered holy to the Lord, and on the fifth year they can eat its fruit. They cannot eat blood or practice divination or soothsaying, nor shave the sides of their heads or beard or "cut their flesh for the dead" or tattoo marks on themselves. They should not sell their daughters. They must keep the Sabbaths. They should not seek after mediums or familiar sprit to be defiled by them. They must honor the elderly and so fear God. If a stranger dwells with them, they should not mistreat them, but treat them like their own family and love them as themselves, since they were strangers in Egypt. They must use honest scales in judgement. The Lord declares that He is the Lord who brought them out of Egypt and that they are to do all His statutes to perform them.
The Lord tells Moses to tell the people again that anyone who gives his descendants to Moloch, he shall be put to death by stoning. If the people of the land ignore this rule, God will also set his face against that person, and that person will be cut off along with anyone who conspires with them. Whoever turns to mediums and familiar spirits, God's face will be against him, and he will be cut off. God again tells them to consecrate themselves and be holy because He is the Lord their God, and that they are to keep and perform His statutes, since {He] is the Lord who sanctifies [them.]" If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. Whoever commits adultery with his neighbors wife will also be put to death. If a man lies with his father's wife, the two must die, and also if a man lies with his daughter-in-law. If a man lies with another. man, they must be put to death. If a man marries a woman and her mother, they should be burned with fire. If a man mates with an animal, the man and animal must die, and the same with a woman. If a man takes any of his kin, they will be cut off from the people. If a man lies with a woman during her time of the month, they will be cut off from the people. If a man takes his uncle's wife or brother's wife, they will be childless, cut off, and bear their guilt.
God says that all these instructions are necessary to keep so that the "land may not vomit [them] out." They are to be separate from the other peoples of the earth.
Anyone who is a medium or has familiar spirits should be put to death by stoning.
The Lord tells Moses to tell the priests that "none should defile himself for the dead among his people except for his relatives that are nearest to him." The priests are to have the same laws regarding haircuts, beards, cuttings, and tattoos. They must be holy and not marry "a harlot, defiled woman, or divorced woman." They must consecrate themselves. If the daughter of a priest profanes herself by "playing the harlot," she profanes her father and will be "burned by fire." The high priest should not uncover his head or tear his clothes or defile himself for his father or mother or go out of the sanctuary or profane it. He must take a virgin wife only from his own people. The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron that no man of succeeding generations with any defect will be allowed to "offer the bread of his God," which includes the blind or lame, anyone with a with a marred face, a long limb, a broken foot or hand, who is a humpback or a dwarf, or who has a defect in his eye, eczema, a scab, or is a eunuch. None of these is allowed to make fire offerings. He "may eat the bread of his God, the holy and most holy, but he cannot go near the veil or the altar because he has a defect and will profane the sanctuary."
Moses tells Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel all that the Lord commands him.
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
Aren't you glad you live under the new covenant of mercy and grace?