Leviticus 23:4-14
New English Translation
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,[a] is a Passover offering to the Lord. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month[b] will be the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work.[c] 8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
The Presentation of Firstfruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest,[d] then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest[e] to the priest, 11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit[f]—on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it.[g] 12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer[h] a flawless yearling lamb[i] for a burnt offering to the Lord, 13 along with its grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of[j] choice wheat flour[k] mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma,[l] and its drink offering, one-fourth of a hin of wine.[m] 14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day,[n] until you bring the offering to your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations[o] in all the places where you live.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 23:5 tn Heb “between the two evenings,” either designating the time between the setting of the sun and the true darkness of night or the time between the descent of the sun from high noon to sunset; the translation “at twilight” accepts the first interpretation. Cf. KJV, ASV “at even”; NAB “at the evening twilight.”sn See B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 156, for a full discussion of the issues raised in this verse. The rabbinic tradition places the slaughter of Passover offerings between approximately 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., not precisely at twilight. Moreover, the term פֶּסַח (pesakh) may mean “protective offering” rather than “Passover offering,” although they amount to about the same thing in the historical context of the exodus from Egypt (see Exod 11-12).
- Leviticus 23:6 tn Heb “to this month.”
- Leviticus 23:7 tn Heb “work of service”; KJV “servile work”; NASB “laborious work”; TEV “daily work.”
- Leviticus 23:10 tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
- Leviticus 23:10 tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
- Leviticus 23:11 tn Heb “for your acceptance.”
- Leviticus 23:11 sn See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”
- Leviticus 23:12 tn Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”
- Leviticus 23:12 tn Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; KJV “of the first year”; NLT “a year-old male lamb.”
- Leviticus 23:13 sn See the note on Lev 5:11.
- Leviticus 23:13 sn See the note on Lev 2:1.
- Leviticus 23:13 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
- Leviticus 23:13 tn Heb “wine, one-fourth of the hin.” A pre-exilic hin is about 3.6 liters (= ca. 1 gallon), so one-fourth of a hin would be about 1 quart (1 liter).
- Leviticus 23:14 tn Heb “until the bone of this day.”
- Leviticus 23:14 tn Heb “for your generations.”
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