Bible Strands
Leviticus 20:7
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses the congregation of Israel, positioned between a specific prohibition against consulting mediums (v. 6) and a command to keep His statutes (v. 8), functioning as the theological hinge for both.
The words — הִתְקַדֵּשׁ (H6942, Hithpael of קדשׁ) carries a reflexive force: "you will consecrate yourselves," the subject acting upon itself rather than receiving a title from outside.
The thread — The same formula appears in Leviticus 19:2 and 11:44, and is echoed in 1 Peter 1:15, where the call to holiness is grounded in the character of the one who calls.
Why it lands — The verse makes holiness a response to who God is ("I am the LORD your God"), not merely a compliance with a rule; the reader is asked to treat set-apartness as an identity, not a checklist.
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
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 11:44 For 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.
- Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- 1 Peter 1:15 But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
- Ephesians 1:4 For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
- Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
- Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.