Leviticus 23:23-44

Easy-to-Read Version

Festival of Trumpets

²³ Again the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month, you must have a special day of rest. Blow the trumpet to remind the people that this is a holy meeting. ²⁵ You must not do any work. You must bring an offering as a gift to the Lord.”

Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “The Day of Atonement will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting. You must not eat food,^[a] and you must bring an offering as a gift to the Lord. ²⁸ You must not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement. On that day the priests will go before the Lord and perform the ceremony that makes you pure.

²⁹ “Anyone who refuses to fast on this day must be separated from their people. ³⁰ If anyone does any work on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people. ³¹ You must not do any work at all. This is a law that continues forever for you, wherever you live. ³² It will be a special day of rest for you. You must not eat food. You will start this special day of rest on the evening following the ninth day of the month.^[b] This special day of rest continues from that evening until the next evening.”

Festival of Shelters

³³ Again the Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Tell the Israelites: On the 15th day of the seventh month is the Festival of Shelters. This festival to the Lord will continue for seven days. ³⁵ There will be a holy meeting on the first day. You must not do any work. ³⁶ You will bring offerings as gifts to the Lord for seven days. On the eighth day, you will have another holy meeting. You must not do any work. You will bring an offering as a gift to the Lord.

³⁷ “These are the Lord’s special festivals. There will be holy meetings during these festivals. You will bring offerings as gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings. You will bring these gifts at the right time. ³⁸ You will celebrate these festivals in addition to remembering the Lord’s Sabbath days. You will offer these gifts in addition to your other gifts and any offerings you give as payment for your special promises. They will be in addition to any special offerings you want to give to the Lord.

³⁹ “On the 15th day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you will celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. The first day will be a special day of rest, and then the eighth day will also be a special day of rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day you will take good fruit from fruit trees. And you will take branches from palm trees, poplar trees, and willow trees by the brook. You will celebrate before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You will celebrate this festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This law will continue forever. You will celebrate this festival in the seventh month. ⁴² You will live in temporary shelters for seven days. All the people born in Israel will live in them. ⁴³ Why? So all your descendants will know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters during the time I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ So Moses told the Israelites about all the special meetings to honor the Lord.