And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
- BSB And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
- NKJV And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
- NASB So you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
- NLT Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you 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 keep and do God's statutes, for it is the Lord who sanctifies them. God Himself makes His people holy.
Overview
Obedience is commanded, yet the verse roots holiness in God's own sanctifying work: 'I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.' Israel does not make itself holy by effort alone; God sets them apart and enables their obedience. This anticipates the gospel reality that believers are sanctified by God in Christ, called to live out what He has made them (1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 2:12-13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 31:13Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
- Jas 1:22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
- 1 Th 5:23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Lev 19:37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.
- Lev 21:8Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
- 2 Th 2:13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
- Matt 5:19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt 12:50For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
- Matt 7:24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- Rev 22:14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
- Ezek 20:12Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
- Ezek 37:28And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
- 1 Cor 1:30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
- John 13:17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
- Lev 18:4–5Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
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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 20:8 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.