Deuteronomy 16
English Standard Version
Passover
16 “Observe the (A)month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for (B)in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock or (C)the herd, (D)at the place that the Lord will choose, to make his name dwell there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. (E)Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt (F)in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 (G)No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, (H)nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. 5 You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7 And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8 For (I)six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be (J)a solemn assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.
The Feast of Weeks
9 (K)“You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall keep (L)the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with (M)the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give (N)as the Lord your God blesses you. 11 And (O)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 towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. 12 (P)You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
The Feast of Booths
13 (Q)“You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 (R)You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15 For (S)seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, 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 (T)“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. (U)They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Every man (V)shall give as he is able, (W)according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
Justice
18 “You shall appoint (X)judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (Y)You shall not pervert justice. (Z)You shall not show partiality, (AA)and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
21 “You shall not plant any tree as (AB)an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. 22 And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.
Deuteronomy 16
Easy-to-Read Version
Passover
16 “Remember, in the month of Abib you must celebrate Passover to honor the Lord your God. It was that night in Abib when the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt. 2 You must go to the place the Lord your God will choose to be the home for his name. There you must offer the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. You must offer the cattle and goats. 3 Don’t eat bread that has yeast in it with this sacrifice. You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. This bread is called ‘Bread of Trouble.’ It will help you remember the troubles you had in Egypt. Remember how quickly you had to leave that country. You must remember that day as long as you live. 4 There must be no yeast in anyone’s house anywhere in the country for seven days. And all the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day must be eaten before morning.
5 “You must not sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the Lord your God gives you. 6 You must sacrifice the Passover animal only at the place that the Lord your God will choose to be the home for his name. There you must sacrifice the Passover animal in the evening when the sun goes down. This is the festival when you remember that God brought you out of Egypt. 7 You must cook the meal and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. The next morning you may go back home. 8 You must eat unleavened bread six days. On the seventh day you must not do any work. On this day the people will come together for a special meeting to honor the Lord your God.
Festival of Harvest
9 “You must count seven weeks from the time you begin to harvest the grain. 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest for the Lord your God. Do this by bringing him some special gift you want to bring. Decide how much to give by thinking about how much the Lord your God has blessed you. 11 Go to the place the Lord will choose to be the home for his name. You and your people should enjoy yourselves together there with the Lord your God. Take all your people with you—your sons, your daughters, and all your servants. And take the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows living in your towns. 12 Remember, you were slaves in Egypt. So be sure to obey these laws.
Festival of Shelters
13 “Seven days after you have gathered your harvest in from your threshing floor and from your winepress, you should celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 14 Enjoy yourselves at this festival—you, your sons, your daughters, all your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows living in your towns. 15 Celebrate this festival for seven days at the special place the Lord will choose. Do this to honor the Lord your God. The Lord your God blessed your harvest and all the work you did, so be very happy!
16 “Three times a year all your men must come to meet with the Lord your God at the special place he will choose. They must come for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. Everyone who comes to meet with the Lord must bring a gift. 17 Each man should give as much as he can. He should decide how much to give by thinking about how much the Lord has given him.
Judges and Officers for the People
18 “Choose men to be judges and officers in every town that the Lord your God gives you. Every tribe must do this. And these men must be fair in judging the people. 19 You must always be fair. You must not favor some people over other people. You must not take money to change your mind in judgment. Money blinds the eyes of wise people and changes what a good person will say. 20 Goodness and Fairness! You must try very hard to be good and fair all the time. Then you will live and keep the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
God Hates Idols
21 “When you set up an altar for the Lord your God, you must not place beside the altar any of the wooden poles that honor the goddess Asherah. 22 You must not set up special stones for worshiping false gods. The Lord your God hates them.
Deuteronomy 16
New King James Version
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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 (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.
5 “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; 6 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. 7 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. 8 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)
9 “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
- Deuteronomy 16:8 Lit. restraint
- Deuteronomy 16:14 towns
- Deuteronomy 16:18 towns
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit. regard faces
- Deuteronomy 16:19 perverts
- Deuteronomy 16:21 Or Asherah
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
