Leviticus 23
New American Standard Bible
Laws of Holy Days
23 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)The Lord’s appointed times which you shall (B)proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:
3 ‘(C)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.
4 ‘These are the (D)appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 (E)In the [a]first month, on the fourteenth day of the month [b]at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the (F)Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall (G)not do any laborious work. 8 But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and you (H)gather its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its (I)grain offering shall then be [c]two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a [d]fourth of a hin of wine. 14 Until this very day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, (J)you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new produce. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
15 ‘(K)You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a (L)new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of [e]two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked (M)with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the bread you shall present seven one-year-old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 19 You shall also offer (N)one male goat as a [f]sin offering, and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 On this very day you shall (O)make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious (P)work. It is to be a permanent statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
22 ‘(Q)When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”
23 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(R)In the [g]seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a [h]rest, a (S)reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall (T)not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On exactly (U)the tenth day of this seventh month is (V)the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble [i]yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this very day, for it is a (W)Day of Atonement, (X)to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any [j]person who does not humble himself on this very day, (Y)he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this very day, that person I will eliminate from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble [k]yourselves; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”
33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On (Z)the fifteenth of this [l]seventh month is the (AA)Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall (AB)not do any laborious work. 36 (AC)For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On (AD)the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall not do any laborious work.
37 ‘These are (AE)the appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, (AF)each day’s matter on its own day— 38 besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts and besides all your [m]vowed and [n]voluntary offerings, which you give to the Lord.
39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, (AG)when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a [o]rest on the first day and a [p]rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the [q]foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 So you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall live (AH)in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that (AI)your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel (AJ)the appointed times of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 23:5 I.e., Nisan = March/April
- Leviticus 23:5 Lit between the two evenings
- Leviticus 23:13 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
- Leviticus 23:13 About 0.25 gallon or 1 liter
- Leviticus 23:17 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
- Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 23:24 I.e., Tishri = September/October
- Leviticus 23:24 Lit Sabbath rest
- Leviticus 23:27 Lit your souls
- Leviticus 23:29 Lit soul
- Leviticus 23:32 Lit your souls
- Leviticus 23:34 I.e., Tishri = September/October
- Leviticus 23:38 Lit vows, and besides all your
- Leviticus 23:38 Or freewill offerings
- Leviticus 23:39 Lit Sabbath rest
- Leviticus 23:39 Lit Sabbath rest
- Leviticus 23:40 Lit products; or fruit
Leviticus 23
International Standard Version
Scheduled Festivals
23 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelis that these are my festival times appointed by the Lord[a] that you are to declare as sacred assemblies: 3 Six days you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work. It’s a Sabbath to the Lord wherever you live.[b] 4 These are the Lord’s appointed festivals and sacred assemblies that you are to declare at their appointed time.
5 “The Lord’s Passover is to begin on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight.[c] 6 On the fifteenth day of that month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day that you hold the sacred assembly, you are to do no servile work. 8 Instead, you are to bring an offering made by fire to the Lord daily for seven days. On the seventh day, you are also to hold a sacred assembly during which you are to do no servile work.”
First Fruit Offerings
9 The Lord told Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I’m about to give you and gather its produce, you are to bring a sheaf from the first portion of your harvest to the priest, 11 who will offer the sheaf in the Lord’s presence for your acceptance. The priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a one year old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering in the Lord’s presence. 13 Also present a meal offering of two tenths of a measure of[d] fine flour mixed with olive oil as an offering made by fire to the Lord, a pleasing aroma. Now as to a drink offering, you are to present a fourth of a hin[e] of wine. 14 You are not to eat bread, parched grain, or fresh grain until that day[f] when you’ve brought the offering of your God. This is to be[g] an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live.”
New Meal Offerings
15 “Starting the day after the Sabbath, count for yourselves seven weeks from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. They are to be complete. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, then bring a new meal offering to the Lord. 17 Bring two loaves[h] of bread from home as wave offerings made from two tenths of fine flour baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the loaves of bread, bring seven lambs (each of them[i] one year old and without defect), one young bull as an offering, and two rams as offerings to the Lord—along with your gift and drink offerings—and present them as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 Prepare one male goat for a sin offering and two one year old rams for peace offerings. 20 Then the priest is to wave them—the two lambs with the bread of first fruits—as raised offerings in the Lord’s presence. They’ll be sacred to the Lord on account of the priest.
21 “On the same day, proclaim a sacred assembly for yourselves. You are not to do any servile work—and this is to be an eternal ordinance wherever you live throughout your generations. 22 Furthermore, when you harvest the produce of your land, you are not to harvest all the way to the corners of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and resident alien. I am the Lord your God.”
Offerings in the Seventh Month(A)
23 The Lord told Moses, 24 “Tell the Israelis that on the first day of the seventh month you are to have a Sabbath of rest for you—a memorial announced by a loud blast of trumpets. It is to be a sacred assembly. 25 You are not to do any servile work. Instead, bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.”
Day of Atonement
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, 27 “However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It’s a sacred assembly for you. Humble yourselves[j] and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 You are not to do any work that same day. It’s the Day of Atonement, because your atonement is made in the presence of the Lord your God. 29 Anyone who doesn’t humble himself that same day is to be eliminated from contact with his people.[k] 30 I’ll eliminate anyone who does work that day from among his people. 31 You are not to do any work. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live. 32 It’s a Sabbath of rest[l] for you on which you are to humble yourselves starting the evening of the ninth day of the month. You are to observe your Sabbath from evening to evening.”
Festival of Tents
33 The Lord spoke to Moses, 34 “Tell the Israelis that starting the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the week-long Festival of Tents to the Lord. 35 On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, when you are not to do any servile work. 36 For seven days, bring offerings made by fire to the Lord. The eighth day is also to be a sacred assembly for you. Bring offerings made by fire to the Lord. It’s a sacred assembly. You are not to do any servile work.
37 “These are the Lord’s appointed festivals that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. Bring offerings made by fire to the Lord—a whole burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings. Do this every day on its assigned date 38 in addition to the Lord’s Sabbath—regarding your gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of vows, and your freely given offerings that you will bring to the Lord.
39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you’ve harvested the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of the Lord for seven days. The first day is to be a Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is to be a Sabbath rest.
40 “On the first day, take branches from impressive fruit trees,[m] branches from palm trees, boughs from thick trees, and poplars from the brooks. Then you are to rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Observe it as a pilgrimage festival in the presence of the Lord for seven days of the year. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations. Observe the festival during the seventh month. 42 You are to live in tents for seven days. Every native born of Israel is to live in tents 43 in order for your future[n] generations to know that the Israelis lived in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
44 This is what Moses spoke about to the Israelis regarding the Lord’s appointed festivals.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 23:2 Lit. appointed times for festivals, and so throughout the chapter
- Leviticus 23:3 Lit. Lord in all your dwelling places, and so throughout the chapter
- Leviticus 23:5 Lit. between evenings
- Leviticus 23:13 The unit of measurement is not specified in MT, but cf. Lev. 5:11, 6:20.
- Leviticus 23:13 I.e. about one quart; the hin was equivalent to about one gallon
- Leviticus 23:14 Lit. grain until the bone of this day
- Leviticus 23:14 The Heb. lacks This is to be
- Leviticus 23:17 The Heb. lacks loaves
- Leviticus 23:18 The Heb. lacks each of them
- Leviticus 23:27 Lit. your souls
- Leviticus 23:29 The Heb. lacks from contact with his people
- Leviticus 23:32 Lit. Sabbath of all Sabbath
- Leviticus 23:40 Lit. from fruit from impressive trees
- Leviticus 23:43 The Heb. lacks future
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