Deuteronomy 16-18
Complete Jewish Bible
16 “Observe the month of Aviv, and keep Pesach to Adonai your God; for in the month of Aviv, Adonai your God brought you out of Egypt at night. 2 You are to sacrifice the Pesach offering from flock and herd to Adonai your God in the place where Adonai will choose to have his name live. 3 You are not to eat any hametz with it; for seven days you are to eat with it matzah, the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. Thus you will remember the day you left the land of Egypt as long as you live. 4 No leaven is to be seen with you anywhere in your territory for seven days. None of the meat from your sacrifice on the first day in the evening is to remain all night until morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Pesach offering in just any of the towns that Adonai your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where Adonai your God will choose to have his name live — there is where you are to sacrifice the Pesach offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt. 7 You are to roast it and eat it in the place Adonai your God will choose; in the morning you will return and go to your tents. 8 For six days you are to eat matzah; on the seventh day there is to be a festive assembly for Adonai your God; do not do any kind of work.
9 “You are to count seven weeks; you are to begin counting seven weeks from the time you first put your sickle to the standing grain. 10 You are to observe the festival of Shavu‘ot [weeks] for Adonai your God with a voluntary offering, which you are to give in accordance with the degree to which Adonai your God has prospered you. 11 You are to rejoice in the presence of Adonai your God — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L’vi’im living in your towns, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you — in the place where Adonai your God will choose to have his name live. 12 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt; then you will keep and obey these laws.
(Maftir) 13 “You are to keep the festival of Sukkot for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing-floor and winepress. 14 Rejoice at your festival — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L’vi’im, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you. 15 Seven days you are to keep the festival for Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God will choose, because Adonai your God will bless you in all your crops and in all your work, so you are to be full of joy!
16 “Three times a year all your men are to appear in the presence of Adonai your God in the place which he will choose — at the festival of matzah, at the festival of Shavu‘ot and at the festival of Sukkot. They are not to show up before Adonai empty-handed, 17 but every man is to give what he can, in accordance with the blessing Adonai your God has given you.
Haftarah Re’eh: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 54:11–55:5
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Re’eh: 1 Corinthians 5:9–13; 1 Yochanan (1 John) 4:1–6
Parashah 48: Shof’tim (Judges) 16:18–21:9
18 “You are to appoint judges and officers for all your gates [in the cities] Adonai your God is giving you, tribe by tribe; and they are to judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright. 20 Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land Adonai your God is giving you.
21 “You are not to plant any sort of tree as a sacred pole beside the altar of Adonai your God that you will make for yourselves. 22 Likewise, do not set up a standing-stone; Adonai your God hates such things.
17 “You are not to sacrifice to Adonai your God a cow or sheep that has a defect or anything wrong with it; that would be an abomination to Adonai your God.
2 “If there is found among you, within any of your gates [in any city] that Adonai your God gives you, a man or woman who does what Adonai your God sees as wicked, transgressing his covenant 3 by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky — something I have forbidden — 4 and it is told to you, or you hear about it; then you are to investigate the matter diligently. If it is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done in Isra’el; 5 then you are to bring the man or woman who has done this wicked thing to your city gates, and stone that man or woman to death. 6 The death sentence is to be carried out only if there was testimony from two or three witnesses; he may not be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The witnesses are to be the first to stone him to death; afterwards, all the people are to stone him. Thus you will put an end to this wickedness among you.
8 “If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which Adonai your God will choose, 9 and appear before the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you. 10 You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which Adonai will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions. 11 In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you. 12 Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve Adonai your God or to the judge — that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra’el — 13 all the people will hear about it and be afraid to continue acting presumptuously.
(ii) 14 “When you have entered the land Adonai your God is giving you, have taken possession of it and are living there, you may say, ‘I want to have a king over me, like all the other nations around me.’ 15 In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom Adonai your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you — you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman. 16 However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as Adonai told you never to go back that way again. 17 Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.
18 “When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L’vi’im use. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear Adonai his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them; 20 so that he will not think he is better than his kinsmen; and so that he will not turn aside either to the right or to the left from the mitzvah. In this way he will prolong his own reign and that of his children in Isra’el.
18 (iii) The cohanim, who are L’vi’im, and indeed the whole tribe of Levi, is not to have a share or an inheritance with Isra’el. Instead, their support will come from the food offered by fire to Adonai and from whatever else becomes his. 2 They will have no inheritance with their brothers, because Adonai is their inheritance — as he has said to them.
3 “The cohanim will have the right to receive from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach. 4 You will also give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep. 5 For Adonai your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of Adonai, him and his sons forever.
(iv) 6 “If a Levi from one of your towns anywhere in Isra’el where he is living comes, highly motivated, to the place which Adonai will choose, 7 then he will serve there in the name of Adonai his God, just like his kinsmen the L’vi’im who stand and serve in the presence of Adonai. 8 Such a Levi will receive the same share as they do, in addition to what he may receive from selling his inherited ancestral property.
9 “When you enter the land Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, 11 a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to Adonai, and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you. 13 You must be wholehearted with Adonai your God. (v) 14 For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, Adonai your God does not allow you to do this.
15 “Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him, 16 just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested Adonai your God, ‘Don’t let me hear the voice of Adonai my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!’ 17 On that occasion Adonai said to me, ‘They are right in what they are saying. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him. 19 Whoever doesn’t listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.
20 “‘But if a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name which I didn’t order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die.’ 21 You may be wondering, ‘How are we to know if a word has not been spoken by Adonai?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of Adonai, and the prediction does not come true — that is, the word is not fulfilled — then Adonai did not speak that word. The prophet who said it spoke presumptuously; you have nothing to fear from him.
Devarim 16-18
Orthodox Jewish Bible
16 Be shomer of the month of Aviv [springtime, i.e., Nisan], and perform the Pesach offering unto Hashem Eloheicha; for in the month of Aviv Hashem Eloheicha brought thee forth out of Mitzrayim by lailah.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Pesach unto Hashem Eloheicha, of the tzon and the herd, in the place which Hashem shall choose to place Shmo there.
3 Thou shalt eat no chametz with it; shivat yamim shalt thou eat matzot therewith, even the lechem oni (bread of affliction); for thou camest forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim in haste in order that thou mayest remember the yom when thou camest forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim kol yemei chayyechah (all the days of thy life).
4 And there shall be no se’or (leaven) seen with thee in all thy territory shivat yamim; neither shall there any thing of the basar, which thou sacrificedst ba’Erev baYom HaRishon, remain overnight until the boker.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the Pesach within any of thy she’arim, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee;
6 But at the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose to place Shmo in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Pesach at erev, at the going down of the shemesh, at the mo’ed (appointed time) that thou camest forth out of Mitzrayim.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose; and thou shalt turn back in the boker, and go unto thy oholim.
8 Sheshet yamim thou shalt eat matzot; and on the yom ha’shevi’i shall be an atzeret (assembly) to Hashem Eloheicha; thou shalt do no melachah (work) therein.
9 Shivah shavu’ot (seven weeks) shalt thou number unto thee; begin to number the shivah shavu’ot from such time as thou begin to put the sickle to the standing crop.
10 And thou shalt observe Chag Shavuos unto Hashem Eloheicha by giving a terumah (freewill offering) of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto Hashem Eloheicha, according as Hashem Eloheicha hath blessed thee:
11 And thou shalt rejoice before Hashem Eloheicha, thou, and thy ben, and thy bat, and thy eved, and thy amah, and the Levi that is within thy she’arim, and the ger, and the yatom (orphan), and the almanah, that are among you, in the place which Hashem Eloheicha hath chosen to place Shmo there.
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast an eved in Mitzrayim: and thou shalt be shomer and do these chukkim.
13 Chag HaSukkot shalt thou observe shivat yamim, after that thou hast gathered in from thy threshing floor and from thy winepress:
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy chag (feast), thou, and thy ben, and thy bat, and thy eved, and thy amah, and the Levi, the ger, and the yatom (orphan), and the almanah, that are within thy she’arim.
15 Shivat yamim shalt thou observe the chag (feast) unto Hashem Eloheicha in the place which Hashem shall choose, because Hashem Eloheicha shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, so that thou shalt surely rejoice.
16 Shalosh p’amim bashanah shall all thy males appear before Hashem Eloheicha in the place which He shall choose; in the Chag Matzot, and in the Chag HaShavu’os, and in the Chag HaSukkot, and they shall not appear before Hashem empty-handed:
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the Birkat Hashem Eloheicha which He hath given thee.
[SHOFTIM]
18 Shofetim and shoterim shalt thou appoint thee in all thy she’arim, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, throughout thy shevatim: and they shall judge HaAm with mishpat-tzedek.
19 Thou shalt not pervert mishpat; thou shalt not show partiality, neither take a shochad: for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the chachamim, and twist the devarim of the tzaddikim.
20 Tzedek tzedek (that which is altogether just) shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee.
21 Thou shalt not set up any tree as an Asherah near unto the Mizbe’ach of Hashem Eloheicha, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any matzeivah (pillar); which Hashem Eloheicha hateth.
17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Hashem Eloheicha any ox, or sheep, wherein is mum (blemish), or any evil thing, any defect: for that is a to’avat (abomination) unto Hashem Eloheicha.
2 If there be found among you, within any of thy she’arim which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, ish or isha, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of Hashem Eloheicha, in transgressing His Brit,
3 And hath gone and served elohim acherim, and worshiped them, either the shemesh, or yarei’ach, or any of the tz’vah HaShomayim, which I have not commanded;
4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, hinei, it be emes, and the thing nakhon (certain, correct), that such to’evah (abomination) is wrought in Yisroel,
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that ish or that isha, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy she’arim, even that ish or that isha, and shalt stone them with avanim, till they die.
6 At the mouth of shneym edim, or shloshah edim, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of ed echad (one witness) he shall not be put to death.
7 The hands of the edim shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of kol haAm. So thou shalt put harah (the evil) away from among you.
8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in mishpat, between dahm and dahm, between din and din, and between nega and nega, being matters of controversy within thy she’arim, then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose;
9 And thou shalt come unto the kohanim, who are the Levi’im, and unto the Shofet that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the devar hamishpat (word of judgment);
10 And thou shalt do according to the devar, which they of that place which Hashem shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt be shomer to do according to all that they teach thee;
11 According to the pi hatorah which they shall teach thee, and according to the mishpat which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the devar which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12 And the ish that will do presumptuously, and will not give heed unto the kohen that standeth to minister there before Hashem Eloheicha, or unto the Shofet, even that ish shall die; and thou shalt put away harah from Yisroel.
13 And kol haAm shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14 When thou art come unto ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a melech over me, like Kol HaGoyim that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him as melech over thee, whom Hashem Eloheicha shall choose; one from among thy achim shalt thou set as melech over thee; thou mayest not set an ish nokhri over thee, which is not achicha (thy brother, i.e., a fellow Hebrew).
16 But he shall not multiply susim to himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitzrayim, to the end that he should multiply the sus; forasmuch as Hashem hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply nashim to himself, that his lev turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself kesef and zahav.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the kisei mamlakhto (throne of his kingdom), that he shall write him a mishneh hatorah hazot (copy of this torah) in a sefer out of that which is before the kohanim, the Levi’im;
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Hashem Elohav, to be shomer over kol divrei hatorah hazot and these chukkim, to do them;
20 That his lev be not lifted up in pride above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the mitzvah, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his mamlachah, he, and his banim, in the midst of Yisroel.
18 The kohanim, who are Levi’im, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no chelek nor nachalah with Yisroel; they shall eat the offerings of Hashem made by eish, even His nachalah.
2 Therefore shall they have no nachalah among their achim; Hashem is their nachalah, as He hath said unto them.
3 And this shall be the mishpat hakohanim (the right of the kohanim) from the people, from them that offer the zevach, whether it be shor or seh; and they shall give unto the kohen the shoulder, and the two jowls, and the stomach.
4 The reshit also of thy grain, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the reshit of the shearing of thy tzon, shalt thou give him.
5 For Hashem Eloheicha hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the Shem of Hashem, he and his banim kol hayamim.
6 And if a Levi come from any of thy she’arim (gates, i.e., towns) out of kol Yisroel, where he is living, and come with all the earnestness of his nefesh unto the place which Hashem shall choose;
7 Then he shall minister in the Shem of Hashem Elohav, as all his achim the Levi’im do, which stand there before Hashem.
8 They shall have chelek k’chelek (like portions) to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9 When thou art come into ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to imitate the to’avot (abominations) of those Goyim.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his ben or his bat to pass through the eish (i.e., be burned as an idol’s offering) or kosem kesamim (a diviner of divination) or a m’onen (soothsayer, astrologer), or a m’nachesh (one who interprets omens), or a mekhashshef (witch).
11 Or one who casts spells, or one who inquires of a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a doresh el hamesim (a consulter of the dead ones, i.e., a necromancer).
12 For all that do these things are a to’avat Hashem; and because of these to’evot, Hashem Eloheicha is about to drive them out before thee.
13 Thou shalt be tamim (blameless) before Hashem Eloheicha.
14 For these Goyim, which thou shalt dispossess, paid heed unto soothsayers, and unto diviners; but as for thee, Hashem Eloheicha hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 Hashem Eloheicha will raise up unto thee a Navi from among thee, of thy achim, kamoni (like me [Moshe, Ex 32:30]); unto him ye must listen;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of Hashem Eloheicha in Chorev in the Yom HaKahal, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Hashem Elohav, neither let me see this eish hagedolah any more, that I die not.
17 And Hashem said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Navi from among their achim, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him [Yn 10:18].
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto My words which he shall speak Bishmi (in My Name), I will require it of him.
20 But the navi, which shall presume to speak a word Bishmi (In My Name), which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the shem of elohim acharim, even that navi shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine lev, How shall we know the word which Hashem hath not spoken?
22 When a navi speaketh b’Shem Hashem, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Hashem hath not spoken, but the navi hath spoken it bezadon (in zadon [presumption, arrogance]); thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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