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.

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.

A Psalm of David.