Leviticus 23

Special Holidays

1The 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. 5The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month. It begins at twilight. 6The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the same month. You will eat bread made without yeast for seven days. 7On the first day of this feast you will have a holy meeting. On that day you must not do any work. 8For 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

9The 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. 11The 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. 13You 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. 14First 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.) 16On the fiftieth day, you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord. This is the first day after the seventh week. 17On 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. 19You 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. 21On 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

23Again 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. 25Do not do any work. And bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”

The Day of Cleansing

26The 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. 28Do 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. 30If anyone works on this day, I will destroy him from among his people. 31You must not do any work at all. This law will continue for people from now on wherever you live. 32It 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

33Again 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. 35There will be a holy meeting on the first day. Do not do any work. 36You 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. 38You 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. 40On 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. 41Celebrate 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. 42Live in shelters for seven days. All the people born in Israel must live in shelters. 43This 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.’”

44So Moses told the people of Israel about all of the Lord’s appointed feast days.

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Leviticus 23: ICB

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Leviticus 23

The Religious Festivals

1The Lord gave Moses 2the following regulations for the religious festivals, when the people of Israel are to gather for worship. 3#Ex 20.8-10; 23.12; 31.15; 34.21; 35.2; Dt 5.12-14 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live. 4Proclaim the following festivals at the appointed times.

Passover and Unleavened Bread

(Numbers 28.16-25)

5 # Ex 12.1-13; Dt 16.1,2 The Passover, celebrated to honor the Lord, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6#Ex 12.14-20; 23.15; 34.18; Dt 16.3-8 On the fifteenth day the Festival of Unleavened Bread begins, and for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast. 7On the first of these days you shall gather for worship and do none of your daily work. 8Offer your food offerings to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day you shall again gather for worship, but you shall do none of your daily work.

9-10When you come into the land that the Lord is giving you and you harvest your grain, take the first sheaf to the priest. 11He shall present it as a special offering to the Lord, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you present the offering of grain, also sacrifice as a burnt offering a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. 13With it you shall present four pounds of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. You shall also present with it an offering of one quart of wine. 14Do not eat any of the new grain, whether raw, roasted, or baked into bread, until you have brought this offering to God. This regulation is to be observed by all your descendants for all time to come.

The Harvest Festival

(Numbers 28.26-31)

15 # Ex 23.16; 34.22; Dt 16.9-12 Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of grain to present to the Lord. 16On the fiftieth day, the day after the seventh Sabbath, present to the Lord another new offering of grain. 17Each family is to bring two loaves of bread and present them to the Lord as a special gift. Each loaf shall be made of four pounds of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the Lord as an offering of the first grain to be harvested. 18And with the bread the community is to present seven one-year-old lambs, one bull, and two rams, none of which may have any defects. They shall be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord, along with a grain offering and a wine offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. 19Also offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering. 20The priest shall present the bread with the two lambs as a special gift to the Lord for the priests. These offerings are holy. 21On that day do none of your daily work, but gather for worship. Your descendants are to observe this regulation for all time to come, no matter where they live.

22 # Lv 19.9,10; Dt 24.19-22 When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The Lord is your God.

The New Year Festival

(Numbers 29.1-6)

23-24On the first day of the seventh month observe a special day of rest, and come together for worship when the trumpets sound. 25Present a food offering to the Lord and do none of your daily work.

The Day of Atonement

(Numbers 29.7-11)

26-27 # Lv 16.29-34 The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when the annual ritual is to be performed to take away the sins of the people. On that day do not eat anything at all; come together for worship, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28Do no work on that day, because it is the day for performing the ritual to take away sin. 29Any who eat anything on that day will no longer be considered God's people. 30And if any do any work on that day, the Lord himself will put them to death. 31This regulation applies to all your descendants, no matter where they live. 32From sunset on the ninth day of the month to sunset on the tenth observe this day as a special day of rest, during which nothing may be eaten.

The Festival of Shelters

(Numbers 29.12-40)

33-34 # Dt 16.13-15 The Festival of Shelters begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continues for seven days. 35On the first of these days come together for worship and do none of your daily work. 36Each day for seven days you shall present a food offering. On the eighth day come together again for worship and present a food offering. It is a day for worship, and you shall do no work.

( 37These are the religious festivals on which you honor the Lord by gathering together for worship and presenting food offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and wine offerings, as required day by day. 38These festivals are in addition to the regular Sabbaths, and these offerings are in addition to your regular gifts, your offerings as fulfillment of vows, and your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.)

39When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest. 40On that day take some of the best fruit from your trees, take palm branches and limbs from leafy trees, and begin a religious festival to honor the Lord your God. 41Celebrate it for seven days. This regulation is to be kept by your descendants for all time to come. 42All the people of Israel shall live in shelters for seven days, 43so that your descendants may know that the Lord made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the Lord your God.

44So in this way Moses gave the people of Israel the regulations for observing the religious festivals to honor the Lord.

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