Deuteronomy 16:1-8
New English Translation
The Passover
16 Observe the month Abib[a] and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month[b] he[c] brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal[d] (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he[e] chooses to locate his name. 3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as symbolic of affliction,[f] for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your lives the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land[g] for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning.[h] 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages[i] that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but you must sacrifice it[j] in the evening in[k] the place where he[l] chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 7 You must cook[m] and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day.[n]
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- Deuteronomy 16:1 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 16:2 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 16:2 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.
- Deuteronomy 16:3 tn Heb “bread of affliction.” Their affliction was part of the cause of why they ate this kind of bread. It could be understood as “the sort of bread made under oppressive circumstances.” The kind of bread was used to symbolize and remind of their affliction.
- Deuteronomy 16:4 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
- Deuteronomy 16:4 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 16:5 tn Heb “gates.”
- Deuteronomy 16:6 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
- Deuteronomy 16:6 tc The MT reading אֶל (ʾel, “unto”) before “the place” should, following Smr, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate, be omitted in favor of ב (bet; בַּמָּקוֹם, bammaqom), “in the place.”
- Deuteronomy 16:6 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
- Deuteronomy 16:7 tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (בָּשַׁל, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (בָּשַׁל, bashal) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of בָּשַׁל (bashal) with “fire” (אֵשׁ, ʾesh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.
- Deuteronomy 16:8 tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification (cf. TEV, NLT).
Deuteronomy 16:1-8
New Living Translation
Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
16 “In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib,[a] for that was the month in which the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the Lord your God at the designated place of worship—the place he chooses for his name to be honored. 3 Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, as when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread—the bread of suffering—so that as long as you live you will remember the day you departed from Egypt. 4 Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for those seven days. And when you sacrifice the Passover lamb on the evening of the first day, do not let any of the meat remain until the next morning.
5 “You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you. 6 You must offer it only at the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored. Sacrifice it there in the evening as the sun goes down on the anniversary of your exodus from Egypt. 7 Roast the lamb and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses. Then you may go back to your tents the next morning. 8 For the next six days you may not eat any bread made with yeast. On the seventh day proclaim another holy day in honor of the Lord your God, and no work may be done on that day.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 16:1 Hebrew Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord your God. Abib, the first month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurs within the months of March and April.
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