“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
- KJV Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
- NKJV “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
- NASB “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
- NLT “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
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 be holy because Yahweh their God is holy, the heart of the entire chapter.
Overview
This foundational command roots all of Israel's ethics in the holiness of God himself. To be God's people is to reflect his character in every area of life. The New Testament directly applies this verse to believers, calling Christians to be holy in all their conduct because the One who called them is holy.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- Holiness"You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."
Cross-references · 11
- Lev 11:44–45For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Lev 20:7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- 1 Pet 1:15–16But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
- 2 Cor 6:14–16Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Matt 5:48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
- Lev 20:26You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.
- 2 Cor 7:1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Exod 19:6And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
- Lev 21:8You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.
- Isa 6:3–4And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
- Amos 3:3Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:2 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.