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‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.
Leviticus 19:13 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
  • KJV Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
  • BSB You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
  • NASB ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning.
  • NLT “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Israel must not oppress or rob a neighbor, and must pay a hired worker's wages promptly.

Overview

This command protects the vulnerable laborer who depended on daily wages to survive. Withholding pay overnight was a form of oppression God would not tolerate. The verse reveals God's concern for economic justice and the dignity of workers, a concern the New Testament echoes in its warnings against defrauding laborers.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Jas 5:4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.
  • Mal 3:5I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
  • Deut 24:14–15You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.
  • Jer 22:13“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;
  • Prov 20:10Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
  • Jer 22:3Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
  • Exod 22:21“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
  • Exod 22:15If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.
  • Mark 10:19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”
  • Ezek 22:29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
  • Prov 22:22Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;
  • Job 31:39if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
  • 1 Th 4:6that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
  • Luke 3:13He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.”
  • Exod 22:24–27and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
  • Lev 6:3or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and swearing to a lie; in any of these things that a man does, sinning therein;
  • Exod 22:8–9If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods.
  • Exod 22:13If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 19:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.

How Leviticus 19:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.