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The Feast of Weeks

You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them[a] from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 10 Then you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks[b] before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering[c] that you will bring, in proportion to how he[d] has blessed you. 11 You shall rejoice before him[e]—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages,[f] the resident foreigners,[g] the orphans, and the widows among you—in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:9 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
  2. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת (khag shavuʿot) is otherwise known in the OT (Exod 23:16) as קָצִיר (qatsir, “harvest”) and in the NT as πεντηχοστή (pentēhchostē, “Pentecost”).
  3. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
  4. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
  5. Deuteronomy 16:11 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
  6. Deuteronomy 16:11 tn Heb “gates.”
  7. Deuteronomy 16:11 sn The ger (גֵּר) “foreign resident” or “naturalized citizen,” (see Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:10-13) could make sacrifices (Lev 17:8; 22:18; Num 15:14) and participate in Israel’s religious festivals: Passover Exod 12:48; Day of Atonement Lev 16:29; Feast of Weeks Deut 16:10-14; Feast of Tabernacles Deut 31:12.

The Festival of Harvest

“Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest. 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest[a] to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him. 11 This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. 12 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:10 Hebrew Festival of Weeks; also in 16:16. This was later called the Festival of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1). It is celebrated today as Shavuot (or Shabuoth).