קדושים

In the wilderness, God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the whole Israelite community.” Moses stood before the people and repeated God’s words: “You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy.”

He explained that holiness was not only for the Tent of Meeting, but for ordinary days. “Revere your mother and your father,” he said, “and keep My Shabbat,” using the Hebrew word for the special day of rest. “Do not turn to idols or make molten gods.”

Moses also taught about offerings of well-being. If someone brought an offering, it had to be eaten the same day or the next. Anything left until the third day had to be burned. Eating it on the third day would treat something sacred as ordinary, and the person would bear guilt and be cut off from their kin.

The people listened closely. These instructions were meant to shape how they worshiped and how they lived together.

Next Moses spoke about fields and marketplaces. “When you reap your harvest,” he said, “do not cut all the way to the edges. Do not gather every last stalk or pick your vineyard bare. Leave some for the poor and for the stranger.”

He continued: “Do not steal. Do not lie to one another or swear falsely by God’s name. Do not rob or defraud your fellow.” If someone hired a worker, the wages were not to be kept overnight.

Moses described fairness in court: judges must not favor the poor or show special honor to the rich. He added, “Do not insult the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind.”

Then came words the whole camp could remember: “Do not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Do not take vengeance or hold a grudge. Love your fellow as yourself.”

And when strangers lived among them, Israel was not to wrong them, remembering Egypt. They were also to use honest weights and measures.

Moses went on with more rules for daily life. The people were not to mix different kinds in certain ways: they were not to breed cattle with a different kind, sow a field with two kinds of seed, or wear cloth woven from two kinds of material.

He spoke about new fruit trees: for three years the fruit was forbidden to eat. In the fourth year, all the fruit was set aside for celebration before God, and only in the fifth year could the family eat it.

Moses warned them not to eat anything with blood and not to practice divination. They were not to make gashes in their flesh for the dead or mark their bodies. They were to keep God’s days and respect His sanctuary, rise before the aged, and not turn to ghosts or familiar spirits.

Finally, Moses delivered very serious warnings: giving offspring to Molech and certain forbidden sexual acts brought the strongest punishments, because the people were to be set apart and keep God’s laws in the land.