—from Reflections on the Psalms
For reflection
Leviticus 17:1–16
18 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the LORD your God.
You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.
My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the LORD your God.
You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the LORD.
6 None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the LORD.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take[25 (#ulink_c271ab70-5949-58ec-955e-2abf23eb923e)] her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your[26 (#ulink_5b009f68-9651-5a12-9d98-2b9d979fa1c4)] flesh; it is depravity.
And you shall not take[25 (#ulink_c271ab70-5949-58ec-955e-2abf23eb923e)] a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.
19 You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.
You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them[27 (#ulink_ebf66886-28bd-512d-90bc-eac07afc52a1)] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion.
24 Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves.
Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you
(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled);
otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people.
So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.
19 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the LORD your God.
5 When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the LORD, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable in your behalf.
It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire.
If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable.
All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the LORD; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.
OLD MORALITIES
The first thing to get clear about Christian morality between man and man is that in this department Christ did not come to preach any brand new morality. The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you would be done by) is a summing up of what every one, at bottom, had always known to be right. Really great moral teachers never do introduce new moralities: it is quacks and cranks who do that. As Dr. Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” The real job of every moral teacher is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see; like bringing a horse back and back to the fence it has refused to jump or bringing a child back and back to the bit in its lesson that it wants to shirk.
—from Mere Christianity
For reflection
Leviticus 19:18
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.
11 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.
And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
13 You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.
You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
