The Passover Reviewed(A)

16 “Observe the (B)month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for (C)in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and (D)the herd, in the (E)place where the Lord chooses to put His name. You shall eat no leavened bread with it; (F)seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may (G)remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. (H)And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until (I)morning.

“You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover (J)at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it (K)in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and (L)on the seventh day there shall be a [a]sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed(M)

“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 Then you shall keep the (N)Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give (O)as the Lord your God blesses you. 11 (P)You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. 12 (Q)And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed(R)

13 (S)“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14 And (T)you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your [b]gates. 15 (U)Seven days you shall keep a sacred 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 surely rejoice.

16 (V)“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and (W)they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Every man shall give as he is able, (X)according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

Justice Must Be Administered

18 “You shall appoint (Y)judges and officers in all your [c]gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19 (Z)You shall not pervert justice; (AA)you shall not [d]show partiality, (AB)nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and [e]twists the words of the righteous. 20 You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may (AC)live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21 (AD)“You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a [f]wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. 22 (AE)You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:8 Lit. restraint
  2. Deuteronomy 16:14 towns
  3. Deuteronomy 16:18 towns
  4. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit. regard faces
  5. Deuteronomy 16:19 perverts
  6. Deuteronomy 16:21 Or Asherah

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.

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.

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).

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.

Thou mayest not sacrifice the Pesach within any of thy she’arim, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee;

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.

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.

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.

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.