Deuteronomy 16
16
Passover celebration
1Wait for the month of Abib,#16.1 March–April; called Nisan in post-exilic period at which time you must perform the Passover for the LORD your God, because the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt at nighttime during the month of Abib. 2Offer a Passover sacrifice from the flock or herd to the LORD your God at the location the LORD selects for his name to reside. 3You must not eat anything containing yeast along with it.#16.3 It, the Passover sacrifice Instead, for seven days you must eat unleavened bread, bread symbolizing misery, along with it because you fled Egypt in a great hurry. Do this so you remember the day you fled Egypt for as long as you live. 4No dough with yeast should appear in any of your territory for seven days. Furthermore, none of the meat that you sacrificed on the first night should remain until morning. 5You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice in any of the cities that the LORD your God is giving you. 6Instead, you must offer the Passover sacrifice at the location the LORD your God selects for his name to reside, at evening time, when the sun sets, which was the time you fled Egypt. 7Cook it and eat it in the location that the LORD your God selects. The next morning you can return to your tents. 8For six days you will eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a celebration for the LORD your God. Don’t do any work.
Festival of Weeks
9Count out seven weeks, starting the count from the beginning of the grain harvest. 10At that point, perform the Festival of Weeks for the LORD your God. Offer a spontaneous gift in precise measure with the blessing the LORD your God gives you. 11Then celebrate in the presence of the LORD your God—you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites who live in your cities, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—in the location the LORD your God selects for his name to reside. 12Remember how each of you was a slave in Egypt, so follow these regulations most carefully.
Festival of Booths
13Once you have collected the food and drink you need, perform the Festival of Booths for seven days. 14Celebrate your festival: you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who live in your cities. 15Seven days you must perform the festival for the LORD your God in the location the LORD selects because the LORD your God will bless you in all you do and in all your work. You will be overjoyed.
16Three times a year every male among you must appear before the presence of the LORD your God in the location he will select: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. They must not appear before the LORD’s presence empty-handed. 17Each one should have his gift in hand, in precise measure with the blessing the LORD your God gives you.
Judges and officials
18Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every city that the LORD your God gives you. They must judge the people fairly. 19Don’t delay justice; don’t show favoritism. Don’t take bribes because bribery blinds the vision of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20Righteousness! Pursue righteousness so that you live long and take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Rules for worship
21Don’t plant any tree to serve as a sacred pole#16.21 Heb asherah, perhaps an object devoted to the goddess Asherah next to the altar you make for the LORD your God. 22Don’t set up any sacred stone either, because the LORD your God hates such things.
Currently Selected:
Deuteronomy 16: CEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 16
16
Passover
(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.4-8)
Moses said:
1 #
Ex 12.1-20; Lv 23.4-8; Nu 28.16-25. People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib,#16.1 in the month of Abib: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. Passover was celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth of Abib (see Exodus 12.6; Leviticus 23.4,5). because one night in that month years ago, the Lord your God rescued you from Egypt. 2The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. 3-4Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt#16.3,4 the same kind … in Egypt: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt.
For seven days following Passover,#16.3,4 seven days following Passover: This period was called the Festival of Thin Bread (see also verse 16). don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.
5Don't offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live. 6It must be offered at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Kill the sacrifice at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.#16.6 sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt: Or “sunset on the same date as when you left Egypt.” 7Then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship, returning to your tents the next morning.
8Eat thin bread for the next six days. Then on the seventh day, don't do any work. Instead, come together and worship the Lord.
The Harvest Festival
(Exodus 34.22; Leviticus 23.15-21)
Moses said to Israel:
9 #
Lv 23.15-21; Nu 28.26-31. Seven weeks after you start your grain harvest, 10-11go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped and celebrate the Harvest Festival#16.10,11 Harvest Festival: Traditionally called the “Festival of Weeks,” and known in New Testament times as “Pentecost.” in honor of the Lord your God. Bring him an offering as large as you can afford, depending on how big a harvest he has given you. Be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. 12Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.
The Festival of Shelters
(Leviticus 23.33-43; Numbers 29.12-38)
Moses said to Israel:
13-15 #
Lv 23.33-36,39-43; Nu 29.12-38. After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest,#16.13-15 After you … harvest: Leviticus 23.34 gives the exact date as the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which would be early in October. take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.
The Lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the Lord your God.
Three Festivals at the Place of Worship
(Exodus 23.14-17)
Moses said:
16Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. These are the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival,#16.16 Harvest Festival: See the note at 16.10,11. and the Festival of Shelters. And don't forget to take along a gift for the Lord. 17The bigger the harvest the Lord gives you, the bigger your gift should be.
Treat Everyone with Justice
Moses said to Israel:
18-19 #
Ex 23.6-8; Lv 19.15. After you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the Lord your God, the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers. Those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions, even if someone important is involved. Don't take bribes to give unfair decisions. Bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars.#16.18,19 turn … liars: Or “keep innocent people from getting justice.”
20People of Israel, if you want to enjoy a long and successful life, make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land the Lord is giving you.
Don't Set Up Sacred Poles or Stones
Moses said to Israel:
21 #
Ex 34.13. When you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God, don't set up a sacred pole#16.21 sacred pole: See the note at 12.3. for the worship of the goddess Asherah. 22#Lv 26.1. And don't set up a sacred stone! The Lord hates these things.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.