56 Bible Verses about Holiness,  Worldly Separation

And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for all these things have they done, and they became an abomination to me. And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples. And ye shall make a separation between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean, and ye shall not make yourselves an abomination by beast, or by fowl, or by anything that creepeth on the ground which I have separated for you, declaring it as unclean.read more.
And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine.

And he said to him, If thy presence do not go, bring us not up hence. And how shall it be known then that I have found grace in thine eyes I and thy people? Is it not by thy going with us? so shall we be distinguished, I and thy people, from every people that is on the face of the earth.

And ye shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in their midst.

For whoever committeth any of these abominations, ... the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. And ye shall observe my charge, that ye commit not any of the abominable customs which were committed before you; and ye shall not make yourselves unclean therein: I am Jehovah your God.

When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations from before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou, and when Jehovah thy God shall give them up before thee and thou shalt smite them, then shalt thou utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. And thou shalt make no marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor take his daughter for thy son;read more.
for he will turn away thy son from following me, and they will serve other gods, and the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly. But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs, and burn their graven images with fire. For a holy people art thou unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be unto him a people for a possession, above all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

When thou goest forth into camp against thine enemies, then keep thee from every evil thing. If there be with thee a man that is not clean from what hath happened in the night, then shall he go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp; and it shall be, towards evening, he shall bathe in water: and at the going down of the sun he may come inside the camp.read more.
Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, and shalt go forth thither. And thou shalt have a shovel amongst thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which is come from thee. For Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; and thy camp shall be holy, that he see nothing unseemly with thee, and turn away from thee.

Now when these things were completed, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites; for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and have mingled the holy seed with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this unfaithfulness.

Depart, depart, go out from thence, touch not what is unclean; go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, that bear the vessels of Jehovah.

This is the law of cattle, and of fowl, and of every living soul that moveth in the waters, and of every soul that crawleth on the earth; to make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that is to be eaten and the beast that is not to be eaten.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which ye shall eat of all the beasts which are on the earth. Whatever hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts that shall ye eat.read more.
Only these shall ye not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with cloven hoofs: the camel, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs it shall be unclean unto you; and the rock-badger, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs it shall be unclean unto you; and the hare, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs it shall be unclean unto you; and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, but it cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch: they shall be unclean unto you. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatever hath fins and scales in waters, in seas and in rivers, these shall ye eat; but all that have not fins and scales in seas and in rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of every living soul which is in the waters they shall be an abomination unto you. They shall be even an abomination unto you: of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase ye shall have in abomination. Whatever in the waters hath no fins and scales, that shall be an abomination unto you. And these shall ye have in abomination of the fowls; they shall not be eaten; an abomination shall they be: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle, and the falcon, and the kite, after its kind; every raven after its kind; and the female ostrich and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk, after its kind; and the owl, and the gannet, and the ibis, and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the stork; the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. Every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four shall be an abomination unto you. Yet these shall ye eat of every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four: those which have legs above their feet with which to leap upon the earth. These shall ye eat of them: the arbeh after its kind, and the solam after its kind, and the hargol after its kind, and the hargab after its kind. But every winged crawling thing that hath four feet shall be an abomination unto you.

Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep.read more.
And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, and which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs they shall be unclean unto you; and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat; but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you. All clean birds shall ye eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle, and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind; and every raven after its kind; and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind; the owl, and the ibis and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet, and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten. All clean fowls shall ye eat.

And having called again the crowd, he said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing from outside a man entering into him which can defile him; but the things which go out from him, those it is which defile the man. If any one have ears to hear, let him hear.read more.
And when he went indoors from the crowd, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he says to them, Are ye also thus unintelligent? Do ye not perceive that all that is outside entering into the man cannot defile him, because it does not enter into his heart but into his belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats?

And Peter said, In no wise, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising or a scab, or bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh a sore as of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests. And when the priest looketh on the sore in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the sore is turned white, and the sore looketh deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the sore of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean.

This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest,

And if a sore of leprosy is in a garment, in a woollen garment, or a linen garment, either in the warp or in the woof of linen or of wool, or in a skin, or in anything made of skin, and the sore is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is the sore of leprosy, and shall be shewn unto the priest.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, When ye come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a leprous plague in a house of the land of your possession, then he whose house it is shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me like a plague in the house;read more.
and the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean; and afterwards the priest shall go in to see the house.

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman conceive seed, and bear a male, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the separation of her infirmity shall she be unclean.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man have a flux from his flesh, because of his flux he is unclean.

Or if any one touch any unclean thing, whether it be the carcase of an unclean beast, or the carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of an unclean crawling thing, and it be hid from him, he also is unclean and guilty; or if he touch the uncleanness of man, any uncleanness of him by which he is defiled, and it be hid from him, when he knoweth it, then he is guilty.

These shall be unclean unto you among all that crawl: whoever toucheth them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the even. And on whatever any of them when they are dead doth fall, it shall be unclean; all vessels of wood, or garment, or skin, or sack, every vessel wherewith work is done it shall be put into water, and be unclean until the even; then shall it be clean. And every earthen vessel into which any of them falleth whatever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.read more.
All food that is eaten on which such water hath come shall be unclean; and all drink that is drunk shall be unclean, in every such vessel. And everything where upon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; oven and hearth shall be broken down: they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. Nevertheless, a spring or a well, a quantity of water, shall be clean. But he that toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing-seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean; but if water have been put on the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. And if any beast which is to you for food die, he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. And he that eateth of its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even: he also that carrieth its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none make himself unclean for a dead person among his peoples,

that ye may put difference between the holy and the unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and cause them to discern between unclean and clean.

crying, Israelites, help! this is the man who teaches all everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place, and has brought Greeks too into the temple, and profaned this holy place.

We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our face: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by a dead person: both male and female shall ye put out; outside the camp shall ye put them, that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.

And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. And now make confession to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, No fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat shall ye eat. But the fat of a dead carcase, and the fat of that which is torn, may be used in any other use; but ye shall in no wise eat it.read more.
For whoever eateth the fat of the beast of which men present an offering by fire to Jehovah, the soul that hath eaten shall be cut off from his peoples. And no blood shall ye eat in any of your dwellings, whether it be of fowl or of cattle. Whatever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples.

And as to the leper in whom the sore is, his garments shall be rent, and his head shall be uncovered, and he shall put a covering on his beard, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean! All the days that the sore shall be in him he shall be unclean: he is unclean; he shall dwell apart; outside the camp shall his dwelling be.

And if ye sacrifice a sacrifice of peace-offering to Jehovah, ye shall sacrifice it for your acceptance. On the day when ye sacrifice it shall it be eaten, and on the morrow; and that which remaineth until the third day shall be burned with fire. And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an unclean thing: it shall not be accepted.read more.
And he that eateth it shall bear his iniquity; for he hath profaned the hallowed thing of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples.

Whoever toucheth a dead person, the dead body of a man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; for the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him: he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

If there be with thee a man that is not clean from what hath happened in the night, then shall he go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp; and it shall be, towards evening, he shall bathe in water: and at the going down of the sun he may come inside the camp. Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, and shalt go forth thither.read more.
And thou shalt have a shovel amongst thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which is come from thee. For Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; and thy camp shall be holy, that he see nothing unseemly with thee, and turn away from thee.

And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah. And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

But the soul that eateth the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering which is for Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples. And if any one touch anything unclean, the uncleanness of man, or unclean beast, or any unclean abomination, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering, which is for Jehovah, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples.

Say unto them, Every one of all your seed, throughout your generations, that approacheth the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from before me: I am Jehovah. Whatsoever man of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a flux, he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. And he that toucheth any one that is unclean by a dead person, or a man whose seed of copulation hath passed from him; or a man that toucheth any crawling thing whereby he becometh unclean, or a man by whom he may become unclean, whatever may be his uncleanness,read more.
a person that toucheth any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things; but he shall bathe his flesh with water,

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, If any one act unfaithfully and sin through inadvertence in the holy things of Jehovah, then he shall bring his trespass-offering to Jehovah, a ram without blemish out of the small cattle, according to thy valuation by shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass-offering. And he shall make restitution for the wrong that he hath done in the holy things, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and shall give it unto the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering, and it shall be forgiven him.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in the things that they hallow unto me: I am Jehovah.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes; and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai. And set bounds round about the people, saying, Take heed to yourselves, not to go up unto the mountain nor touch the border of it: whatever toucheth the mountain shall certainly be put to death:read more.
not a hand shall touch it, but it shall certainly be stoned, or shot through; whether it be a beast or a man, it shall not live. When the long drawn note of the trumpet soundeth, they shall come up to the mountain.

And thou shalt make them linen trousers to cover the flesh of nakedness; from the loins even to the hips shall they reach. And they shall be upon Aaron and his sons when they enter into the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to serve in the sanctuary; that they may not bear iniquity and die an everlasting statute for him and his seed after him.

Thou shalt also make a laver of copper, and its stand of copper, for washing; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water in it. And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet out of it. When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they come near to the altar to serve, to burn an offering by fire to Jehovah.read more.
And they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they may not die; and it shall be an everlasting statute for them, for him and for his seed throughout their generations.

Keep the sabbath, therefore; for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall certainly be put to death: yea, whoever doeth work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples. Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah: whoever doeth work on the sabbath day shall certainly be put to death.

And when Aaron and his sons have ended covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp setteth forward, then afterwards the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. This is what the sons of Kohath have to carry in the tent of meeting.

Any one that has disregarded Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses: of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant, whereby he has been sanctified, common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and presented strange fire before Jehovah, which he had not commanded them. And there went out fire from before Jehovah, and devoured them, and they died before Jehovah.

And Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, made bold, and with him Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben; and they rose up against Moses, with two hundred and fifty men of the children of Israel, princes of the assembly, summoned to the council, men of renown; and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, It is enough; for all the assembly, all of them are holy, and Jehovah is among them; and why do ye lift up yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?read more.
When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. And he spoke to Korah and to all his band, saying, Even to-morrow will Jehovah make known who is his, and who is holy; and he will cause him to come near to him; and him whom he has chosen, him will he cause to come near to him. This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his band, and put fire therein, and lay incense thereon before Jehovah to-morrow; and it shall be that the man whom Jehovah doth choose, he shall be holy. It is enough, ye sons of Levi!

And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, and smote of the people seventy men; and the people lamented, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

And when they came to Nachon's threshing-floor, Uzzah reached after the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen had stumbled. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things: they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

But a certain man, Ananias by name, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and put aside for himself part of the price, his wife also being privy to it; and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thy heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit, and put aside for thyself a part of the price of the estate?read more.
While it remained did it not remain to thee? and sold, was it not in thine own power? Why is it that thou hast purposed this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and expired. And great fear came upon all who heard it. And the young men, rising up, swathed him up for burial, and having carried him out, buried him. And it came to pass about three hours afterwards, that his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. And Peter answered her, Tell me if ye gave the estate for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much. And Peter said to her, Why is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Lo, the feet of those that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out. And she fell down immediately at his feet and expired. And when the young men came in they found her dead; and, having carried her out, they buried her by her husband.

If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on account of this the world hates you.

Adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore is minded to be the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God.

But ye are a chosen race, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession, that ye might set forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light; who once were not a people, but now God's people; who were not enjoying mercy, but now have found mercy. Beloved, I exhort you, as strangers and sojourners, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. I do not demand that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them out of evil. They are not of the world, as I am not of the world.

Yet the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those that are his; and, Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world.