Leviticus 23
International Children’s Bible
Special Holidays
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘You will announce the Lord’s appointed feasts as holy meetings. These are my special feasts.
The Sabbath
3 “‘There are six days for you to work. But the seventh day will be a special day of rest. It is a day for a holy meeting. You must not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your homes.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed feasts. You will announce the holy meetings at the times set for them. 5 The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month. It begins at twilight. 6 The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the same month. You will eat bread made without yeast for seven days. 7 On the first day of this feast you will have a holy meeting. On that day you must not do any work. 8 For seven days you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. There will be a holy meeting on the seventh day. And on that day you must not do any regular work.’”
The Feast of Harvests
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘You will enter the land I will give you. You will gather its harvest. At that time you must bring the first bundle of grain from your harvest to the priest. 11 The priest will present the bundle before the Lord. Then it will be accepted for you. He will present the bundle on the day after the Sabbath.
12 “‘On the day when you present the bundle of grain, offer a male lamb. It must be one year old. There must be nothing wrong with it. It will be a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 You must also offer a grain offering. It should be four quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell will be pleasing to the Lord. You must also offer a quart of wine as a drink offering. 14 First bring your offering to your God. Until you do this, do not eat the new grain, roasted grain or bread made from the new grain. This law will always continue for people from now on, wherever you live.
The Feast of Pentecost
15 “‘Count seven weeks from the morning after the Sabbath. (This is the Sabbath that you bring the bundle of grain to present as an offering.) 16 On the fiftieth day, you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord. This is the first day after the seventh week. 17 On that day bring two loaves of bread from your homes. That bread will be presented as an offering. Use yeast and four quarts of flour to make those loaves of bread. They will be your gift to the Lord from the first wheat of your harvest.
18 “‘Offer one bull, two male sheep and seven male lambs. The lambs must be one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. Offer them with their grain offerings and drink offerings. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord. They will be an offering made by fire. And the smell will be pleasing to the Lord. 19 You must also offer one male goat for a sin offering. You must offer two male, one-year-old lambs as a fellowship offering.
20 “‘The priest will present the two lambs as an offering. He will present them with the bread from the first wheat of the harvest. They are holy to the Lord. They will belong to the priest. 21 On that same day you will call a holy meeting. You must not do any work that day. This law will continue for you from now on, wherever you live.
22 “‘You will harvest your crops on your land. But do not harvest all the way to the corners of your field. If grain falls onto the ground, don’t gather it up. Leave it for poor people and foreigners in your country. I am the Lord your God.’”
The Feast of Trumpets
23 Again the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you must have a special day of rest. There will be a holy meeting. Blow the trumpet for a special time of remembering. 25 Do not do any work. And bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”
The Day of Cleansing
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The Day of Cleansing will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting. You will give up eating and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day. This is because it is the Day of Cleansing. On that day the priests will go before the Lord. They will perform the acts to make you clean from sin so you will belong to the Lord.
29 “If anyone refuses to give up food on this day, he must be separated from his people. 30 If anyone works on this day, I will destroy him from among his people. 31 You must not do any work at all. This law will continue for people from now on wherever you live. 32 It will be a special day of rest for you. And you must not eat. You will start this special day of rest on the evening after the ninth day of the month. It will continue from that evening until the next evening.”
The Feast of Shelters
33 Again the Lord said to Moses, 34 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Shelters. This feast to the Lord will continue for seven days. 35 There will be a holy meeting on the first day. Do not do any work. 36 You will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord each day for seven days. On the eighth day you will have another holy meeting. And you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. This will be a holy meeting. Do not do any work.
37 (“‘These are the Lord’s special feasts. There will be holy meetings on these feast days. You will bring offerings made by fire to the Lord. They will be whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings. You must bring these gifts at the right times. 38 You must bring these offerings in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbath days. You must offer them in addition to offerings you give as payment for special promises. They are also in addition to special offerings you want to give to the Lord.)
39 “‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. By then you will have gathered in the crops of the land. You must rest on the first day and the seventh day. 40 On the first day you will take good fruit from the fruit trees. And you will take branches from palm, poplars and other leafy trees. You will celebrate before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This law will continue from now on. You will celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in shelters for seven days. All the people born in Israel must live in shelters. 43 This is so that all your descendants will know I made Israel live in shelters. It was during the time I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44 So Moses told the people of Israel about all of the Lord’s appointed feast days.
Leviticus 23
New King James Version
Feasts of the Lord
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be (A)holy convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
3 (B)‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread(C)
4 (D)‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 (E)On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 (F)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no [a]customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
The Feast of Firstfruits
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: (G)‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of (H)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall (I)wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a [b]sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks(J)
15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count (K)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer (L)a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are (M)the firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice (N)one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a (O)peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. (P)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 (Q)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
The Feast of Trumpets(R)
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the (S)seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, (T)a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”
The Day of Atonement(U)
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 (V)“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, (W)to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For any person who is not (X)afflicted in soul on that same day (Y)shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, (Z)that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall [c]afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall [d]celebrate your sabbath.”
The Feast of Tabernacles(AA)
33 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (AB)‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an (AC)offering made by fire to the Lord. (AD)On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a (AE)sacred[e] assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
37 (AF)‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 38 (AG)besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.
39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have (AH)gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And (AI)you shall take for yourselves on the first day the [f]fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; (AJ)and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 (AK)You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 (AL)You shall dwell in [g]booths for seven days. (AM)All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 (AN)that your generations may (AO)know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when (AP)I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
44 So Moses (AQ)declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 23:7 occupational
- Leviticus 23:13 pleasing
- Leviticus 23:32 humble yourselves
- Leviticus 23:32 observe your sabbath
- Leviticus 23:36 solemn
- Leviticus 23:40 foliage
- Leviticus 23:42 tabernacles; shelters made of boughs
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.