Leviticus 23
23
Holy Days.#This is paralleled by another calendar from the Priestly tradition, in Nm 28–29. Non-Priestly resumes of festal and holy observances are found in Ex 23:10–17; 34:18–24 and Dt 16:1–17. 1The Lord said to Moses: 2Speak to the Israelites and tell them: The following are the festivals#Nm 28–29; Dt 16:1–17. of the Lord, which you shall declare holy days. These are my festivals:
3For six days work may be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest,#Sabbath of complete rest: the sabbath and the Day of Atonement are called “sabbaths of complete rest” (Ex 16:23; 31:15; 35:2; Lv 16:31; 23:32). Work of any sort is prohibited on these days (Lv 23:3, 28; Nm 29:7) as opposed to other holy days where only laborious work is prohibited but light work, such as preparing food, is allowed (Ex 12:16; cf. Lv 23:7, 8, 21, 25, 35, 36; Nm 28:18, 25, 26; 29:1, 12, 35). a declared holy day; you shall do no work. It is the Lord’s sabbath wherever you dwell.#Lv 19:3; 26:2; Ex 20:8–11; 23:12; 31:14–15; 34:21; Nm 28:9–10; Dt 5:12–15; Lk 13:14.
Passover. 4These are the festivals of the Lord, holy days which you shall declare at their proper time.#Ex 23:14–19. 5The Passover of the Lord#The Passover of the Lord …feast of Unleavened Bread: the two occasions were probably separate originally. Combined they celebrate the exodus from Egypt. Cf. Ex 12:1–20, 43–49; Nm 28:16–25. falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight.#Ex 12:1–51; Nm 9:1–8; 28:16–25; Dt 16:1–8. 6The fifteenth day of this month is the Lord’s feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.#Ex 12:18; 13:3–10; 23:15; 34:18. 7On the first of these days you will have a declared holy day; you shall do no heavy work. 8On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the Lord. Then on the seventh day you will have a declared holy day; you shall do no heavy work.
9#Around Passover a first fruits offering is to be brought (see 2:14), consisting of a sheaf of barley, the crop that matures at this time of year. The Lord said to Moses: 10Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, 11who shall elevate#Lv 7:30. the sheaf before the Lord that it may be acceptable on your behalf.#Dt 26:2. On the day after the sabbath#Day after the sabbath: the singular term shabbat “sabbath” may mean “week” here and refer to the seven-day period of the feast of Unleavened Bread. According to this interpretation, the barley sheaf is offered the day after the week of Unleavened Bread. Others understand it as referring to the first or last day of Unleavened Bread. the priest shall do this. 12On this day, when your sheaf is elevated, you shall offer to the Lord for a burnt offering an unblemished yearling lamb. 13Its grain offering shall be two tenths of an ephah of bran flour mixed with oil, as a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord; and its libation shall be a fourth of a hin of wine. 14You shall not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels until this day, when you bring the offering for your God. This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations wherever you dwell.
Pentecost. 15Beginning with the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the sheaf for elevation, you shall count seven full weeks;#Ex 23:16; 34:22; Nm 28:26–31; Dt 16:9–12. 16you shall count to the day after the seventh week, fifty days.#Fifty days: Pentecost. This festival occurs on a single day, fifty days after the feast of Unleavened Bread, elsewhere called the “feast of the Harvest” (Ex 23:16), “Day of First Fruits” (Nm 28:26), and “feast of Weeks” (Ex 34:22; Dt 16:10, 16). The name Pentecost comes from the later Greek term for the holy day (cf. Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor 16:8), referring to the fiftieth day. This is the occasion for bringing the first fruits of the wheat harvest. #Acts 2:1. Then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17For the elevated offering of your first-ripened fruits to the Lord, you shall bring with you from wherever you live two loaves of bread made of two tenths of an ephah of bran flour and baked with leaven. 18Besides the bread, you shall offer to the Lord a burnt offering of seven unblemished yearling lambs, one bull of the herd, and two rams, along with their grain offering and libations, as a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. 19One male goat shall be sacrificed as a purification offering, and two yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. 20The priest shall elevate them—that is, the two lambs—with the bread of the first-ripened fruits as an elevated offering before the Lord; these shall be sacred to the Lord and belong to the priest. 21On this same day you shall make a proclamation: there shall be a declared holy day for you; no heavy work may be done. This shall be a perpetual statute through all your generations wherever you dwell.
22#Lv 19:9–10. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. These things you shall leave for the poor and the alien. I, the Lord, am your God.
New Year’s Day. 23The Lord said to Moses: 24Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month#First day of the seventh month: the seventh new moon is counted from a new year beginning in the spring (cf. v. 5). Like the seventh day in the week, it is preeminent among the new moon days (cf. Nm 28:11–15; 29:1–6). #Nm 29:1–6. you will have a sabbath rest, with trumpet blasts as a reminder, a declared holy day; 25you shall do no heavy work, and you shall offer an oblation to the Lord.
The Day of Atonement. 26The Lord said to Moses: 27Now the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.#Day of Atonement: see chap. 16 and notes there. #Lv 16:1–34; 25:9; Nm 29:7–11. You will have a declared holy day. You shall humble yourselves and offer an oblation to the Lord. 28On this day you shall not do any work, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord, your God. 29Those who do not humble themselves on this day shall be cut off from the people. 30If anyone does any work on this day, I will remove that person from the midst of the people. 31You shall do no work; this is a perpetual statute throughout your generations wherever you dwell; 32it is a sabbath of complete rest for you. You shall humble yourselves. Beginning on the evening of the ninth of the month, you shall keep your sabbath from evening to evening.
The Feast of Booths. 33The Lord said to Moses: 34Tell the Israelites: The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Lord’s feast of Booths,#Feast of Booths: this is the final harvest festival of the year celebrating the remaining harvest. It is called the “feast of Ingathering” (Ex 23:16; 34:22), the “feast of Booths” (Lv 23:34; Dt 16:13), or simply the “feast” (1 Kgs 8:65). It is a seven-day festival with an eighth closing day. The first and eighth days are rest days (see note on v. 3). #Ex 23:16; 34:22; Dt 16:13–15; 31:10; 2 Mc 1:9, 18; Jn 7:2. which shall continue for seven days. 35On the first day, a declared holy day, you shall do no heavy work. 36For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the Lord, and on the eighth day you will have a declared holy day. You shall offer an oblation to the Lord. It is the festival closing. You shall do no heavy work.
37#This appears to be the original conclusion of the chapter. These, therefore, are the festivals of the Lord which you shall declare holy days, in order to offer as an oblation to the Lord burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day, 38in addition to the Lord’s sabbaths, your donations, your various votive offerings, and the voluntary offerings that you present to the Lord.
39On the fifteenth day, then, of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord#The feast of the Lord: the feast of Booths, the preeminent festival. This section supplements vv. 33–36 by prescribing the popular activities for the festival. for a whole week. The first and the eighth day shall be days of rest. 40On the first day you shall gather fruit of majestic trees, branches of palms, and boughs#Fruit…branches…boughs: the fruit and/or foliage from these trees is to be gathered, but it is not said how they are used. The command to make merry suggests they may have been used in a procession or even circumambulation of the altar (cf. Ps 26:6). Later tradition understood these prescriptions as referring to making the booths out of the foliage (Neh 8:15). of leafy trees and valley willows. Then for a week you shall make merry before the Lord, your God. 41You shall keep this feast of the Lord for one whole week in the year. By perpetual statute throughout your generations in the seventh month of the year, you shall keep it. 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days; every native-born Israelite shall dwell in booths, 43that your descendants may realize that, when I led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, I made them dwell in booths. I, the Lord, am your God.
44Thus did Moses announce to the Israelites the festivals of the Lord.
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Leviticus 23: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Leviticus 23
23
1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.
3“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.
4“‘These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. 5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover. 6On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.’”
9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah#23:13 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.#23:13 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons. 14You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15“‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. 17You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah#23:17 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh. 18You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 19You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. 21You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.’”
23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.’”
26Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27“However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 28You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God. 29For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”
33Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 34“Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths#23:34 or, feast of tents, or Succoth for seven days to Yahweh. 35On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 36Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
37“‘These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— 38in addition to the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to Yahweh.
39“‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days. 41You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. 42You shall dwell in temporary shelters#23:42 or, booths for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters,#23:42 or, booths 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters#23:43 or, booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’”
44So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh.
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