Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
- KJV Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
- NKJV You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
- NASB You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
- NLT “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
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 take vengeance or hold grudges but love their neighbor as themselves.
Overview
This climactic command sums up the second table of the law and is quoted by Jesus as the second greatest commandment. It forbids retaliation and bitterness, calling instead for active love. The whole chapter's ethics flow into this principle, which Christ embodied perfectly and which marks the life of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Matt 22:39–40And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Rom 13:9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Mark 12:31–34The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- Luke 10:27–37He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Gal 5:14The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Jas 2:8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- Matt 5:43–44You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
- Matt 19:19honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Rom 12:19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Rom 12:17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- Exod 23:4–5If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
- Prov 20:22Do not say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.
- Eph 4:31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
- Col 3:8But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
- Matt 19:16Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?”
- 1 Pet 2:1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- Heb 10:30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
- 2 Sam 13:28Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- 2 Sam 13:22And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon for disgracing his sister Tamar.
- Deut 32:25Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, terror will strike the young man and the young woman, the infant and the gray-haired man.
- Rom 13:4For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.
- Gal 5:20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
- Ps 103:9He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 19:18 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.