“‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

“‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

“‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt.

“‘Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the LORD.’” (Leviticus 19:32-37)

How you treat those who can’t do anything for you says a lot about you. Rising in the presence of the aged and showing them respect costs you nothing and doesn’t do a thing physically for the them: it puts no money in their pockets and no food in their bellies.

Those who are strangers, who do not belong to your people, should be treated as well as if they were old friends and part of your family. The Israelites had been ill-treated in the land of their sojourning. God reminded them to not act like the Egyptians, but instead to show love.

An ephah and a hin were measurements of weight. An ephah was a dry measure equal to about 3/5 of a bushel—think of 11 two liter bottles of soda—and a hin was a liquid measure equivalent to about a gallon. A merchant had power over his customers and taking advantage of them was very easy: the merchant had the scales and the baskets and the customer had no way of checking to make sure everything was accurate. Rather than doing what you can, do what you should, do what you’d like them to do to you. Who you are when no one is looking is who you really are.

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