You 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall be holy to me; for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- KJV And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
- NKJV And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
- NASB So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.
- NLT You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.
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 is to be holy because Yahweh is holy and has set them apart to be His own. This is the heart of the Holiness Code.
Overview
This verse states the great purpose of all the preceding laws: a holy people belonging to a holy God. Israel's identity rests on God's choice, 'set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.' The New Testament applies this very calling to the church (1 Pet. 1:16; 2:9), grounding Christian holiness in our belonging to God through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Pet 1:15–16But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
- Lev 20:7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- Lev 20:24But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.
- Lev 19:2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- Titus 2:14He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
- Deut 7:6For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- Deut 26:18–19And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,
- Deut 14:2for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
- Rev 4:8And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
- Isa 6:3And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
- Ps 99:5Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool; He is holy!
- Ps 99:9Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
- Rev 3:7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
- Isa 30:11Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 20:26 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.