Leviticus 19:18 (DRB)

Passage

Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 19:16 Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: But reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through him.

Leviticus 19:18 Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:19 Keep ye my laws. Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with beasts of any other kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with different seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts.

Leviticus 19:20 If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they both shall be scourged: and they shall not be put to death, because she was not a free woman.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seek", "revenge", "mindful", "injury", "citizens", "thou", "shalt", and "love". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seek" and "revenge", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in..." into verse 19's "Keep ye my laws Thou shalt not...", so "seek" and "revenge" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "seek" and "revenge" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.