Bible Strands
Leviticus 19:13
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses the assembled Israelites through Moses during the wilderness covenant renewal, placing economic conduct alongside ritual and social holiness.
The words — תַעֲשֹ֥ק (ta.'a.Shok) translates literally as "you will oppress," and תָלִ֞ין (ta.Lin) means "it will remain overnight," describing the specific prohibition against delaying labor payments.
The thread — This command repeats in Deuteronomy 24:14 regarding poor hired workers and is cited in James 5:4 where unpaid wages are described as crying out for judgment.
Why it lands — It requires immediate payment for work performed, treating timely compensation as a baseline requirement for covenant community integrity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Cross-references
- James 5:4 Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Deuteronomy 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- Proverbs 20:10 Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
- Jeremiah 22:13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Exodus 22:15 If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.
- Exodus 22:21 You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 22:3 This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
- Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
- Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’”