The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[a] you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. ²⁵ You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.^[b] You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves^[c] and present special gifts to the Lord. ²⁸ Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with^[d] the Lord your God. ²⁹ All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. ³⁰ And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. ³¹ You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. ³² This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The Festival of Shelters

³³ And the Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters^[e] on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement.^[f] This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. ³⁵ On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. ³⁶ For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.

³⁷ (“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. ³⁸ These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.)

³⁹ “Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,^[g] after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees^[h]—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month^[i] from generation to generation. ⁴² For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. ⁴³ This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.