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The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

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- Chapter 23 -

(Exodus 23:14–19)
1
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2
Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.
3
For six days you shall do work; the seventh day, because it is the rest of the Sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwelling places.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

(Exodus 12:14–28; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:1–8)
4
Therefore, these are the feasts of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their times.
5
The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, is the Passover of the Lord.
6
And the fifteenth day of this month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. For seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.
7
The first day shall be greatly honored and holy to you; you shall do no servile work in it.
8
But you shall offer a sacrifice with fire, for seven days, to the Lord. Then the seventh day shall be more honored and more holy; and you shall do no servile work in it.

The Feast of Firstfruits

9
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
10
Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you will have entered into the land which I will give to you, and you will have harvested your grain fields, you shall carry the sheaves of grain, the first-fruits of your harvest, to the priest.
11
He shall lift up a sheaf before the Lord, on the day after the Sabbath, so that it may be acceptable for you, and he shall sanctify it.
12
And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a one-year-old immaculate lamb shall be slain as a holocaust of the Lord.
13
And the libations shall be offered with it: two-tenths of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, as an incense and a most sweet odor for the Lord; likewise, libations of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
14
Bread, and parched grain, and boiled grain, you shall not eat from the grain field, until the day when you shall offer from it to your God. It is an everlasting precept in your generations and in all of your dwelling places.(a)

The Feast of Weeks

(Acts 2:1–13)
15
Therefore, you shall number from the day after the Sabbath, in which you offered a sheaf of the first-fruits, seven full weeks,
16
all the way to the day after the completion of the seventh week, that is, fifty days, and then you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord,
17
from all of your dwelling places: two loaves from the first-fruits, from two-tenths of leavened fine wheat flour, which you shall bake as the first-fruits of the Lord.
18
And you shall offer with the bread: seven immaculate one-year-old lambs, and one calf from the herd, and two rams, and these shall be a holocaust, with their libations, as a most sweet odor to the Lord.
19
You shall also offer a he-goat for sin, and two one-year-old lambs as victims of peace offerings.
20
And when the priest has lifted them up with the loaves of the first-fruits, in the sight of the Lord, they shall fall to his use.
21
And you shall call this day most honored and most holy; you shall do no servile work in it. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwelling places and generations.
22
And when you will have harvested the grain fields of your land, you shall not cut it down all the way to the ground; neither shall you gather the remnants of the ears of grain, but you shall leave these for paupers and strangers. I am the Lord your God.

The Feast of Trumpets

(Numbers 29:1–6)
23
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
24
Say to the sons of Israel: The seventh month, the first day of the month, shall be a Sabbath for you, a memorial, with the sounding of trumpets, and it shall be called holy.
25
You shall do no servile work in it, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.

The Day of Atonement

(Leviticus 16:1–34; Numbers 29:7–11)
26
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
27
The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement; it shall be most honored, and it shall be called holy. And you shall afflict your souls on that day, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.
28
You shall do no servile work in the time of this day; for it is a day of propitiation, so that the Lord your God may be merciful to you.
29
Every soul that has not been afflicted on this day shall perish from his people,
30
and anyone who will have done work, I shall wipe him away from his people.
31
Therefore, you shall do no work on that day. This shall be an everlasting ordinance for you in all your generations and dwelling places.
32
It is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls beginning on the ninth day of the month: from evening until evening you shall celebrate your Sabbaths.

The Feast of Tabernacles

(Nehemiah 8:13–18; Zechariah 14:16–21)
33
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
34
Say to the sons of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this seventh month, there shall be the Feast of Tabernacles: seven days for the Lord.
35
The first day shall be called most honored and most holy; you shall do no servile work in it.
36
And for seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. Likewise, the eighth day shall be most honored and most holy, and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of assembly and gathering. You shall do no servile work in it.
37
These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call most honored and most holy, and in them you shall offer oblations to the Lord: holocausts and libations according to the rite of each particular day,
38
aside from the Sabbaths of the Lord, and your donations, and that which you offer by a vow, or which you give to the Lord spontaneously.
39
Therefore, from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you will have gathered together all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days. The first day and the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, that is, a day of rest.
40
And you shall take for yourselves, on the first day, the fruits of the most beautiful tree, and branches of palm trees, and branches of trees with thick foliage, and willows from the torrent. And you shall rejoice in the sight of the Lord your God.(b)
41
And you shall celebrate its solemnity for seven days each year. This shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the seventh month, you shall celebrate the feast,
42
and you shall live under shelters for seven days. All who are of the family of Israel shall dwell in tabernacles,
43
so that your posterity may learn that I caused the sons of Israel to live in tabernacles, when I led them away from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
44
And Moses spoke about the solemnities of the Lord to the sons of Israel.

Footnotes

(a)23:14 The day for this offering of the first-fruits from the grain field is the day after the first Sabbath of the Passover. The disciples of Jesus were eating from the grain field on the second-first Sabbath, that is, on the first Sabbath after the Passover, not on the first Sabbath during the Passover. Therefore, they were eating from the grain field after the first-fruits had been offered.(Conte)
(b)23:40 The word ‘tree’ is singular because it is a foreshadowing of the Virgin Mary, the most beautiful tree from the human race, who gave birth to the Messiah as the fruit of her womb.(Conte)
(Exodus 23:14–19)
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of the LORD, 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 the LORD in all your dwellings.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

(Exodus 12:14–28; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:1–8)
4
“‘These are the set feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
5
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD’s Passover.
6
On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7
In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
8
But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.’”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9
The LORD 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.
11
He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12
On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to the LORD.
13
The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah(a) of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.(b)
14
You 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.

The Feast of Weeks

(Acts 2:1–13)
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.
16
The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the LORD.
17
You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah(c) of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to the LORD.
18
You 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 the LORD, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.
19
You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20
The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21
You 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 the LORD your God.’”

The Feast of Trumpets

(Numbers 29:1–6)
23
The LORD 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.
25
You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’”

The Day of Atonement

(Leviticus 16:1–34; Numbers 29:7–11)
26
The LORD 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 the LORD.
28
You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29
For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people.
30
Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people.
31
You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32
It 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.”

The Feast of Tabernacles

(Nehemiah 8:13–18; Zechariah 14:16–21)
33
The LORD 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 (d) for seven days to the LORD.
35
On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
36
Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
37
“‘These are the appointed feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day—
38
in addition to the Sabbaths of the LORD, 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 the LORD.
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 the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.
40
You 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 the LORD your God seven days.
41
You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month.
42
You shall dwell in temporary shelters (e) for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters,(f)
43
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters (g) when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”
44
So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.

Footnotes

(a)23:13 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
(b)23:13 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons.
(c)23:17 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
(d)23:34 or, feast of tents, or Succoth
(e)23:42 or, booths
(f)23:42 or, booths
(g)23:43 or, booths
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