Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:28 KJV
You must not cut your body to show sadness for someone who died or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:28 NCV
Let's not forget the prior verse
Jewish version 27You shall not round off the corner of your head, and you shall not destroy the edge of your beard.
Rashi had something interesting to say about verse 28
You shall not make] cuts [in your flesh] for a person [who died]: This was the practice of the Amorites: to make cuts in their flesh when a person [related] to them died.
ושרט לנפש: כן דרכן של אמוריים להיות משרטין בשרם כשמת להם מת:
etch a tattoo: Heb. וּכְתֹבֶת קַעֲקַע, an inscription etched (מְחֻקֶּה) and sunken (שָׁקוּע), never to be erased, for one etches it with a needle, and it remains permanently black.
וכתבת קעקע: כתב המחוקה ושקוע שאינו נמחק לעולם שמקעקעו במחט והוא משחיר לעולם:
etched: Heb. קַעְקַע. Similar to the expression [found in the verses], “and hang (וְהוֹקַע) them” [lit., “and sink them”] (Num. 25:4), and, “and we will hang them (וְהוֹקַעְנוּם) ” [lit., “and we will sink them”] (II Sam. 21:6). They would thrust a pole into the ground, and hang the [guilty people] on it; in this way, [the ones hanged would appear as if] inserted and thrust into the ground [and thus the word קַעְקַע denoting “etched in and sunken” into the skin]; porpoynt in Old French [according to Greenberg, porpoint according to Gukovitzki].
When I got my tattoos, I was young. I'm glad the artist was smart enough to put them above the short sleeve line. He told me I may thank him for it at a later time. He was right.