Leviticus 23
23
Religious Festivals
1The Lord told Moses 2to say to the community of Israel:
I have chosen certain times for you to come together and worship me.
3 #
Ex 20.8-10; 23.12; 31.14,15; 34.21; 35.2; Dt 5.12-14. You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week is holy because it belongs to me. No matter where you live, you must rest on the Sabbath and come together for worship. This law will never change.
Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread
(Numbers 28.16-25)
The Lord said:
4-5 #
Ex 12.1-13; Dt 16.1,2. Passover is another time when you must come together to worship me, and it must be celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month#23.4,5 first month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. of each year.
6 #
Ex 12.14-20; 23.15; 34.18; Dt 16.3-8. The Festival of Thin Bread begins on the fifteenth day of that same month; it lasts seven days, and during this time you must honor me by eating bread made without yeast. 7On the first day of this festival you must rest from your work and come together for worship. 8Each day of this festival you must offer sacrifices. Then on the final day you must once again rest from your work and come together for worship.
Offering the First Part of the Harvest
9The Lord told Moses 10to say to the community of Israel:
After you enter the land I am giving you, the first bundle of wheat from each crop must be given to me. So bring it to a priest 11on the day after the Sabbath. He will lift it up#23.11 lift it up: See the note at 7.29,30. in dedication to me, and I will accept you. 12You must also offer a sacrifice to please me.#23.12 sacrifice to please me: See the note at 1.1-3. So bring the priest a one-year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it 13and two kilograms of your finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then he will place these on the bronze altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. Together with these, you must bring a liter of wine as a drink offering. 14I am your God, and I forbid you to eat any new grain or anything made from it until you have brought these offerings. This law will never change.
The Harvest Festival
(Numbers 28.26-31)
The Lord said:
15 #
Ex 23.16; 34.22; Dt 16.9-12. Seven weeks after you offer this bundle of grain, each family must bring another offering of new grain. 16Do this exactly 50 days later, which is the day following the seventh Sabbath. 17Bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up#23.17 lifted up: See the note at 7.29,30. in dedication to me. Each loaf is to be made with yeast and with two kilograms of the finest flour from the first part of your harvest.
18At this same time, the entire community of Israel must bring seven lambs that are a year old, a young bull, and two rams. These animals must have nothing wrong with them, and they must be offered as a sacrifice to please me.#23.18 sacrifice to please me: See the note at 1.1-3. You must also offer the proper grain and wine sacrifices with each animal.#23.18 proper grain … animal: See Numbers 15.1-16. 19Offer a goat#23.19 goat: See the note at 1.1-3. as a sacrifice for sin, and two rams a year old as a sacrifice to ask my blessing.#23.19 sacrifice to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1. 20The priest will lift up#23.20 lift up: See the note at 7.29,30. the rams together with the bread in dedication to me. These offerings are holy and are my gift to the priest. 21This is a day of celebration and worship, a time of rest from your work. You and your descendants must obey this law.
22 #
Lv 19.9,10; Dt 24.19-22. When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the Lord your God!
The Festival of Trumpets
(Numbers 29.1-6)
23The Lord told Moses 24-25to say to the people of Israel:
The first day of the seventh month#23.24,25 seventh month: See the note at 16.29. must be a day of complete rest. Then at the sound of the trumpets, you will come together to worship and to offer sacrifices on the altar.
The Great Day of Forgiveness
(Numbers 29.7-11)
26 #
Lv 16.29-34. The Lord God said to Moses:
27The tenth day of the seventh month#23.27 seventh month: See the note at 16.29. is the Great Day of Forgiveness.#23.27 Great Day of Forgiveness: See the note at 16.34. It is a solemn day of worship; everyone must go without eating to show sorrow for their sins, and sacrifices must be burned. 28No one is to work on that day—it is the Great Day of Forgiveness, when sacrifices will be offered to me, so that I will forgive your sins. 29I will destroy anyone who refuses to go without eating. 30-31None of my people are ever to do any work on that day—not now or in the future. And I will wipe out those who do! 32This is a time of complete rest just like the Sabbath, and everyone must go without eating from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth.
The Festival of Shelters
(Numbers 29.12-40)
33 #
Dt 16.13-15. The Lord told Moses 34to say to the community of Israel:
Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,#23.34 seventh month: See the note at 16.29. and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me. 35No one is to do any work on the first day of the festival—it is a time when everyone must come together for worship. 36For seven days, sacrifices must be offered on the altar. The eighth day is also to be a day of complete rest, as well as a time of offering sacrifices on the altar and of coming together for worship.
37I have chosen these festivals as times when my people must come together for worship and when animals, grain, and wine are to be offered on the proper days. 38These festivals must be celebrated in addition to the Sabbaths and the times when you offer special gifts or sacrifices to keep a promise or as a voluntary offering.
39Remember to begin the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the seventh month after you have harvested your crops. Celebrate this festival for seven days in honor of me and don't do any work on the first day or on the day following the festival. 40Pick the best fruit from your trees#23.40 best fruit from your trees: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and cut leafy branches to use during the time of this joyous celebration in my honor. 41I command you and all of your descendants to celebrate this festival during the seventh month of each year. 42For seven days every Israelite must live in a shelter, 43so future generations will know that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
44This is how Moses instructed the people of Israel to celebrate the Lord's festivals.
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Leviticus 23: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Leviticus 23
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; Deut 5.12–14You 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
(Num 28.16–25)
5 #
Ex 12.1–13; Deut 16.1–2 The Passover, celebrated to honour the LORD, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6#Ex 12.14–20; 23.15; 34.18; Deut 16.3–8On 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 corn, 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 corn, also sacrifice as a burnt offering a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. 13With it you shall present two kilogrammes of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The smell of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. You shall also present with it an offering of one litre of wine. 14Do not eat any of the new corn, 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
(Num 28.26–31)
15 #
Ex 23.16; 34.22; Deut 16.9–12 Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of corn to present to the LORD. 16On the fiftieth day, the day after the seventh Sabbath, present to the LORD another new offering of corn. 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 two kilogrammes of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the Lord as an offering of the first corn 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, together with a grain offering and a wine offering. The smell 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 #
Lev 19.9–10; Deut 24.19–22 When you harvest your fields, do not cut the corn at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the ears of corn that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The LORD is your God.
The New Year Festival
(Num 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
(Num 29.7–11)
26-27 #
Lev 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. 29Anyone who eats anything on that day will no longer be considered one of God's people. 30And if anyone does any work on that day, the LORD himself will put him 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
(Num 29.12–40)
33-34 #
Deut 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.
37(These are the religious festivals on which you honour 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 in fulfilment 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 the branches of leafy trees, and begin a religious festival to honour 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 honour the LORD.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.