Deuteronomy 16
Legacy Standard Bible
The Passover
16 “Keep (A)the month of Abib and [a](B)celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 And you shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where Yahweh chooses for His name to dwell. 3 (C)You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may 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 all your territory, and (E)none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5 You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your gates of the towns which Yahweh your God is giving you; 6 but (F)at the place where Yahweh your God chooses for His name to dwell, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the appointed time that you came out of Egypt. 7 And you shall (G)cook and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and (H)on the seventh day there shall be (I)a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work on it.
The Feast of Weeks
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 [b]celebrate the Feast of Weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as Yahweh your God blesses you; 11 and you shall (K)be glad before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female slaves and (L)the Levite who is within your gates and (M)the sojourner and the [c]orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where Yahweh your God chooses for His name to dwell. 12 (N)And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
The Feast of Booths
13 “(O)You shall [d]celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall (P)be glad in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female slaves and the Levite and the sojourner and the [e]orphan and the widow who are within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh chooses, because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether glad.
16 “(Q)Three times in a year all your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and (R)they shall not appear before Yahweh empty-handed. 17 Every man [f]shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you.
Do Not Distort Justice
18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates of the towns which Yahweh 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 [g]be partial, and (U)you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 Righteousness! Righteousness, you shall pursue, that (V)you may live and possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you.
21 “(W)You shall not plant for yourself an [h]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 (X)And you shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which Yahweh your God hates.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Lit do
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Lit do
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Lit do
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:17 Lit according to the gift of his hand
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit regard persons
- Deuteronomy 16:21 A wooden symbol of a female deity
Deuteronomy 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 16
Feast of the Passover. 1 Observe the month of Abib[a] by keeping the Passover of the Lord, your God,(A) since it was in the month of Abib that the Lord, your God, brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall offer the Passover sacrifice from your flock and your herd to the Lord, your God, in the place the Lord will choose as the dwelling place of his name.(B) 3 (C)You shall not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you shall eat with it only unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, so that you may remember as long as you live the day you left the land of Egypt; for in hurried flight you left the land of Egypt. 4 No leaven is to be found with you in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat which you sacrificed on the evening of the first day shall be kept overnight for the next day.
5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in any of the communities which the Lord, your God, gives you; 6 only at the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place of his name, and in the evening at sunset, at the very time when you left Egypt, shall you sacrifice the Passover.(D) 7 You shall cook and eat it at the place the Lord, your God, will choose; then in the morning you may return to your tents. 8 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord, your God; on that day you shall do no work.(E)
Feast of Weeks. 9 (F)You shall count off seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the day when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 You shall then keep the feast of Weeks[b] for the Lord, your God, and the measure of your own voluntary offering which you will give shall be in proportion to the blessing the Lord, your God, has given you. 11 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow among you, in the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place of his name.(G) 12 Remember that you too were slaves in Egypt, so carry out these statutes carefully.
Feast of Booths. 13 (H)You shall celebrate the feast of Booths[c] for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press. 14 You shall rejoice at your feast,(I) together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and also the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow within your gates. 15 For seven days you shall celebrate this feast for the Lord, your God, in the place which the Lord will choose; since the Lord, your God, has blessed you in all your crops and in all your undertakings, you will be full of joy.
16 Three times a year,(J) then, all your males shall appear before the Lord, your God, in the place which he will choose: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed, 17 but each with his own gift, in proportion to the blessing which the Lord, your God, has given to you.
Justice. 18 (K)In all the communities which the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes to administer true justice for the people. 19 You must not distort justice: you shall not show partiality;(L) you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of the just. 20 Justice, justice alone shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you.
Illicit Worship. 21 (M)You shall not plant an asherah[d] of any kind of wood next to the altar of the Lord, your God, which you will build;(N) 22 nor shall you erect a sacred pillar, such as the Lord, your God, hates.
Footnotes
- 16:1 Abib: “ear of grain, ripe grain,” the name of the month in which the barley harvest fell, corresponding to our March and April; at a later period this month received the Babylonian name of “Nisan.”
- 16:10 Feast of Weeks: a celebration of the grain harvest, later known as “Pentecost”; cf. Acts 2:1.
- 16:13 Feast of Booths: also called Tabernacles; a harvest festival at the end of the agricultural year. In later times, during the seven days of the feast the Israelites camped in booths made of branches erected on the roofs of their houses or in the streets in commemoration of their wanderings in the wilderness, where they dwelt in such temporary shelters.
- 16:21–22 Asherah…sacred pillar: see note on 7:5; Ex 34:13.
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
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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
