The Word Am I

The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 16 -

(Exodus 12:14–28; Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25)
1
“Observe the month of new grain, at the beginning of springtime, so that you may accomplish the Passover to the Lord your God. For in this month, the Lord your God led you away from Egypt in the night.
2
And you shall immolate the Passover to the Lord your God, from sheep and from oxen, in the place which the Lord your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there.
3
You shall not eat it with leavened bread. For seven days you shall eat, without leaven, the bread of affliction. For you departed from Egypt in fear. So may you remember the day of your departure from Egypt, throughout all the days of your life.
4
No leaven shall be present in all your confines for seven days. And by morning, there shall not remain any of the flesh which was immolated on the first day in the evening.
5
You cannot immolate the Passover in any of your cities, which the Lord your God will give to you, that you wish,
6
but only in the place which the Lord your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there. You shall immolate the Passover in the evening, upon the setting of the sun, which is the time when you departed from Egypt.
7
And you shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God will choose, and, rising up in the morning, you shall go into your tent.
8
For six days, you shall eat unleavened bread. And on the seventh day, because it is the assembly of the Lord your God, you shall do no work.

The Feast of Weeks

(Numbers 28:26–31)
9
You shall number for yourself seven weeks from that day, the day on which you put the sickle to the grain field.
10
And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, to the Lord your God, with a voluntary oblation from your hand, which you shall offer according to the blessing of the Lord your God.
11
And you shall feast in the sight of the Lord your God: you, your son and your daughter, your man servant and your woman servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the new arrival as well as the orphan and the widow, who abide with you, in the place which the Lord your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there.
12
And you shall recall that you were a servant in Egypt. And you shall preserve and carry out the things that have been instructed.

The Feast of Tabernacles

(Numbers 29:12–40)
13
Likewise, you shall celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, when you will have gathered your fruits from the orchard and the winepress.(a)
14
And you shall feast at the time of your festival: you, your son and daughter, your man servant and woman servant, likewise the Levite and the new arrival, the orphan and the widow, who are within your gates.
15
For seven days you shall celebrate feasts to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord will choose. And the Lord your God will bless you in all your crops, and in every work of your hands. And you shall be joyful.
16
Three times a year, all your males shall appear in the sight the Lord your God in the place which he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles. No one shall appear before the Lord empty.
17
But each one shall offer according to what he will have, according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he will give to him.

Judges and Justice

18
You shall appoint judges and magistrates at all your gates, which the Lord your God will give to you, throughout each of your tribes, so that they may judge the people with a just judgment,
19
and not so as to show favoritism to either side. You shall not accept a person’s reputation, nor gifts. For gifts blind the eyes of the wise and alter the words of the just.
20
You shall justly pursue what is just, so that you may live and possess the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.

Forbidden Forms of Worship

21
You shall not plant a sacred grove, nor shall you plant any tree near the altar of the Lord your God;
22
you shall neither make nor set up for yourself a statue. These things the Lord your God hates.”

Footnotes

(a)16:13 The word ‘area’ is often translated as ‘threshing floor’ (referring to the grain harvest). However, in the context of the fall harvest in Israel, which is not of grain but of fruits, it refers to a plot of land for fruit trees, hence the translation of orchard.(Conte)
(Exodus 12:14–28; Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25)
1
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2
You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
3
You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
4
No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.
5
You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you;
6
but at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt.
7
You shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents.
8
Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work.

The Feast of Weeks

(Numbers 28:26–31)
9
You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.
10
You shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to how the LORD your God blesses you.
11
You shall rejoice before the LORD your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, in the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
12
You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles

(Numbers 29:12–40)
13
You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press.
14
You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates.
15
You shall keep a feast to the LORD your God seven days in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
16
Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty.
17
Every man shall give as he is able, according to the LORD your God’s blessing which he has given you.

Judges and Justice

18
You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19
You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
20
You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Forbidden Forms of Worship

21
You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the LORD your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves.
22
Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which the LORD your God hates.