Exodus 23:14-19
Expanded Bible
Three Yearly Feasts
14 “Three times each year you must ·hold a feast to honor me [hold a festival; or make a pilgrimage for me]. 15 You must celebrate the ·Feast [Festival] of Unleavened Bread [34:18] in the way I commanded you. For seven days you must eat ·bread that is made without yeast [unleavened bread] at the set time during the month of Abib [13:4], the month when you came out of Egypt. No one is to ·come to worship [appear before] me ·without bringing an offering [empty-handed].
16 “You must celebrate the ·Feast [Festival] of Harvest [C called Feast of Weeks in 34:22; later called Pentecost]. Offer to God the first things you harvest from the crops you planted in your fields.
“You must celebrate the ·Feast [Festival] of Ingathering [C later called Feast of Shelters or Booths; Lev. 23:33–36] in the fall, when you gather all the crops from your fields.
17 “So three times during every year all your males must come ·to worship [L before] the Lord God.
18 “You must not offer ·animal blood [L blood of a sacrifice] along with anything ·that has yeast in it [leavened].
“You must not save any of the fat from the sacrifice for the next day.
19 “You must bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the ·Holy Tent [L House; 25:9] of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk [C probably a pagan ritual; Deut. 14:21].
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Exodus 23:14-19
Amplified Bible
Three National Feasts
14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me. 15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings]. 16 Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the [a]Lord God.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with [b]leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.
19 “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not [c]boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 23:17 “Lord” with only an initial capital is Heb Adonai (Master); “God” (all caps) represents YHWH (Yahweh) and is usually rendered “Lord” (all caps).
- Exodus 23:18 Because leaven is a kind of fungus, it became a symbol of corruption and sin. But in some contexts it had positive connotations (e.g. Lev 23:17; Matt 13:33).
- Exodus 23:19 This may have been a pagan practice, perhaps a fertility rite.
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