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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior;
- Lev 20:7“‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God.
- Lev 20:24But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
- Lev 19:2“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
- Titus 2:14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Deut 7:6For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Deut 26:18–19Yahweh has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments.
- Deut 14:2For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Rev 4:8The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”
- Isa 6:3One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
- Ps 99:5Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!
- Ps 99:9Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!
- Rev 3:7“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
- Isa 30:11Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
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 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.