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Leviticus 23
International Children’s Bible
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 International Version
Leviticus 23
New International Version
The Appointed Festivals
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,(A) the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.(B)
The Sabbath
3 “‘There are six days when you may work,(C) but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,(D) a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;(E) wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(F)
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:(G) 5 The Lord’s Passover(H) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.(I) 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread(J) begins; for seven days(K) you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly(L) and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.(M) And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”
Offering the Firstfruits
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you(N) and you reap its harvest,(O) bring to the priest a sheaf(P) of the first grain you harvest.(Q) 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord(R) so it will be accepted(S) on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old(T) without defect,(U) 13 together with its grain offering(V) of two-tenths of an ephah[a](W) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering(X) of a quarter of a hin[b] of wine.(Y) 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,(Z) until the very day you bring this offering to your God.(AA) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,(AB) wherever you live.(AC)
The Festival of Weeks(AD)
15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,(AE) and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah(AF) of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits(AG) to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings(AH)—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering[c] and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering,(AI) together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly(AJ) and do no regular work.(AK) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
22 “‘When you reap the harvest(AL) of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(AM) Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.(AN) I am the Lord your God.’”
The Festival of Trumpets(AO)
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly(AP) commemorated with trumpet blasts.(AQ) 25 Do no regular work,(AR) but present a food offering to the Lord.(AS)’”
The Day of Atonement(AT)
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month(AU) is the Day of Atonement.(AV) Hold a sacred assembly(AW) and deny yourselves,[d] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work(AX) on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.(AY) 30 I will destroy from among their people(AZ) anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance(BA) for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest(BB) for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”(BC)
The Festival of Tabernacles(BD)
33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh(BE) month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles(BF) begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly;(BG) do no regular work.(BH) 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly(BI) and present a food offering to the Lord.(BJ) It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings(BK) required for each day. 38 These offerings(BL) are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths(BM) and[e] in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings(BN) you give to the Lord.)
39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival(BO) to the Lord for seven days;(BP) the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches(BQ) from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees(BR)—and rejoice(BS) before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters(BT) for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know(BU) that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 23:13 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms; also in verse 17
- Leviticus 23:13 That is, about 1 quart or about 1 liter
- Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 23:27 Or and fast; similarly in verses 29 and 32
- Leviticus 23:38 Or These festivals are in addition to the Lord’s Sabbaths, and these offerings are
International Children’s Bible (ICB) 
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.