Leviticus 19:28 (KJV)

Passage

Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Leviticus 19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

Leviticus 19:30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "make", "cuttings", "flesh", "dead", "print", "marks", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "make", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 27's "Ye shall not round the corners of..." into verse 29's "Do not prostitute thy daughter to cause...", so "shall" and "make" 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 "shall" and "make" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.