Deuteronomy 16
New American Standard Bible
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.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:5 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Or freewill offering
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:11 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:12 Lit perform these
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 16:13 Or Tabernacles
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 16:14 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:17 Lit according to the gift of his hand
- Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
- Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
Deuteronomy 16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Passover Reviewed
16 “Observe the month[a] of Abib by keeping the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.(A) 2 You shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name.(B) 3 You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt.(C) 4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.(D) 5 You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you. 6 But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.(E) 7 You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents.(F) 8 For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.(G)
The Festival of Weeks Reviewed
9 “You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.(H) 10 Then you shall keep the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord your God. 11 Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.(I) 12 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes.(J)
The Festival of Booths Reviewed
13 “You shall keep the Festival of Booths[b] for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress.(K) 14 Rejoice during your festival, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows resident in your towns.(L) 15 Seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, and you shall surely celebrate.(M)
16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths.[c] They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed;(N) 17 all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
Municipal Judges and Officers
18 “You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people.(O) 19 You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.(P) 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
21 “You shall not plant any tree as a sacred pole[d] beside the altar that you make for the Lord your God,(Q) 22 nor shall you set up a stone pillar—things that the Lord your God hates.
Deuteronomy 16
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
16 Observe the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring, that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God: because in this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.
2 And thou shalt sacrifice the phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there.
3 Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
4 No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day in the evening remain until morning.
5 Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God will give thee:
6 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there: thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy dwellings.
8 Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day, because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work.
9 Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein thou didst put the sickle to the corn.
10 And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according to the blessing of the Lord thy God.
11 And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there:
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: and thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.
13 Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barnfloor and of the winepress.
14 And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite also and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt be in joy.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. No one shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:
17 But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.
18 Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they may judge the people with just judgment,
19 And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.
20 Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
21 Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the Lord thy God:
22 Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue: which things the Lord thy God hateth.
Deuteronomy 16
The Message
16 1-4 Observe the month of Abib by celebrating the Passover to God, your God. It was in the month of Abib that God, your God, delivered you by night from Egypt. Offer the Passover-Sacrifice to God, your God, at the place God chooses to be worshiped by establishing his name there. Don’t eat yeast bread with it; for seven days eat it with unraised bread, hard-times bread, because you left Egypt in a hurry—that bread will keep the memory fresh of how you left Egypt for as long as you live. There is to be no sign of yeast anywhere for seven days. And don’t let any of the meat that you sacrifice in the evening be left over until morning.
5-7 Don’t sacrifice the Passover in any of the towns that God, your God, gives you other than the one God, your God, designates for worship; there and there only you will offer the Passover-Sacrifice at evening as the sun goes down, marking the time that you left Egypt. Boil and eat it at the place designated by God, your God. Then, at daybreak, turn around and go home.
8 Eat unraised bread for six days. Set aside the seventh day as a holiday; don’t do any work.
9-11 Starting from the day you put the sickle to the ripe grain, count out seven weeks. Celebrate the Feast-of-Weeks to God, your God, by bringing your Freewill-Offering—give as generously as God, your God, has blessed you. Rejoice in the Presence of God, your God: you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, the Levite who lives in your neighborhood, the foreigner, the orphan and widow among you; rejoice at the place God, your God, will set aside to be worshiped.
12 Don’t forget that you were once a slave in Egypt. So be diligent in observing these regulations.
13-15 Observe the Feast-of-Booths for seven days when you gather the harvest from your threshing-floor and your wine-vat. Rejoice at your festival: you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, the Levite, the foreigner, and the orphans and widows who live in your neighborhood. Celebrate the Feast to God, your God, for seven days at the place God designates. God, your God, has been blessing you in your harvest and in all your work, so make a day of it—really celebrate!
16-17 All your men must appear before God, your God, three times each year at the place he designates: at the Feast-of-Unraised-Bread (Passover), at the Feast-of-Weeks, and at the Feast-of-Booths. No one is to show up in the Presence of God empty-handed; each man must bring as much as he can manage, giving generously in response to the blessings of God, your God.
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18-19 Appoint judges and officers, organized by tribes, in all the towns that God, your God, is giving you. They are to judge the people fairly and honestly. Don’t twist the law. Don’t play favorites. Don’t take a bribe—a bribe blinds even a wise person; it undermines the intentions of the best of people.
20 The right! The right! Pursue only what’s right! It’s the only way you can really live and possess the land that God, your God, is giving you.
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21-22 Don’t plant fertility Asherah trees alongside the Altar of God, your God, that you build. Don’t set up phallic sex pillars—God, your God, hates them.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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