Deuteronomy 16
New American Standard Bible
The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths
16 “Observe (A)the month of Abib and [a](B)celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 (C)You shall not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry), so that you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt (D)all the days of your life. 4 For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in your entire territory, and (E)none of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall be left overnight until the morning. 5 You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your [b]towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6 but only (F)at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7 You shall (G)cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and (H)on the seventh day there shall be (I)a festive assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.
9 “(J)You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall [c]celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a [d]voluntary offering of your hand in a proportional amount, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; 11 and you shall (K)rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and (L)the Levite who is in your [e]town, and (M)the stranger, the [f]orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. 12 (N)You shall also remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and [g]comply with these statutes.
13 “(O)You shall [h]celebrate the Feast of [i]Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall (P)rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the [j]orphan, and the widow who are in your [k]towns. 15 For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
16 “(Q)Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and (R)they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Everyone [l]shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.
18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your [m]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (S)You shall not distort justice, (T)you shall not [n]show partiality; and (U)you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that (V)you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
21 “(W)You shall not plant for yourself an [o]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And (X)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:5 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Or freewill offering
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:12 Lit perform these
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Or Tabernacles
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:17 Lit according to the gift of his hand
- Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
- Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
Deuteronomy 16
International Standard Version
Celebrate the Passover
16 “Observe the month of Abib, keeping the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt during the night in the month of Abib. 2 Then sacrifice sheep and cattle for the Passover to the Lord your God at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish his name. 3 You must not eat any yeast with it. Instead, for seven days eat bread without yeast—the bread of affliction—because you left the land of Egypt in haste. Remember the day you went out of the land of Egypt for the rest of your lives. 4 Yeast is not to be seen in any of your territories for seven days. The meat is not to remain from the evening of the first day until morning.
5 “You must not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your cities[a] that the Lord your God is about to give you. 6 Instead, you are to sacrifice the Passover in the evening at dusk—at the time of day you left Egypt—at the place where your God will choose to establish his name. 7 Boil and eat the Passover meal[b] at the place that the Lord your God will choose. In the morning you may go back to your tents. 8 Eat bread without yeast for six days. Then on the seventh day, hold an assembly to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work.”
Celebrate the Festival of Weeks
9 “Count off seven weeks from when the sickle is first put to standing grain. 10 Then observe the Festival of Weeks in the presence of the Lord your God by giving your tribute and the freewill offering of your hands in proportion to the manner in which the Lord your God blessed you. 11 Rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God with your son, daughter, male and female slaves, the descendant of Levi who is in your city,[c] the stranger, the orphan, and the widow among you, at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish his name. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, so keep and observe these statutes.”
Celebrate the Festival of Tents
13 “Celebrate the Festival of Tents[d] for seven days after you harvest from your threshing floor and your wine press. 14 Rejoice in your festival—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the descendants of Levi, and foreigners, orphans, and widows, who live in your cities.[e] 15 For seven days you are to celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in everything you do, and your joy will be complete.
16 “Every male must appear in the presence of the Lord your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents.[f] He must not appear in the Lord’s presence empty-handed, 17 but each one must appear[g] with his own gift, proportional to the blessing that the Lord your God has given you.”
Pursue Justice
18 “Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities[h] that the Lord your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.[i] 19 You must not twist justice, show favoritism, or take bribes, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the speech of the righteous. 20 You are to pursue justice—and only justice—so you may live and possess the land that the Lord your God is about to give you.”
Prohibited Practices
21 “You are not to set up a sacred pole[j] beside the altar of the Lord your God that you will build. 22 Furthermore, you are not to erect for yourselves a sacred stone pillar, because the Lord your God detests these things.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:5 Lit. gates
- Deuteronomy 16:7 The Heb. lacks the Passover meal
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Lit. gate
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Or Tents
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Lit. gates
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Or Tents
- Deuteronomy 16:17 The Heb. lacks must appear
- Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit. gates
- Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit. people with righteous judgment
- Deuteronomy 16:21 Lit. Asherah; i.e. a cultic pillar
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
