Old Testament · Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 16

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

(Exodus 12:14–28; Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25)

1Keep the month of Abib, and make a Passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.

2And you shall sacrifice a Passover to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place that the LORD will choose to make His name dwell there. 3You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for in haste you came forth out of the land of Egypt—so that you may remember the day of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life^a.

4And there shall not be seen with you leaven in all your border seven days; neither shall any of the flesh^b that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day remain overnight until the morning.

5You are not able to sacrifice the Passover within one of your gates that the LORD your God gives you; 6but at the place that the LORD your God will choose to make His name dwell there, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening, at the going of the sun, the appointed time (mo-ed) of your coming forth out of Egypt. 7And you shall boil and eat it in the place that the LORD your God will choose; and you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents.

8Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall not do work.

The Feast of Weeks

(Numbers 28:26–31)

9Seven weeks you shall count for yourself; from when the sickle begins on the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks. 10And you shall make a feast^c of weeks to the LORD your God, the measure of the freewill-offering of your hand that you give, according as the LORD your God blesses you. 11And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the sojourner, and the orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, in the place that the LORD your God will choose to make His name dwell there.

12And you shall remember that you were a servant in Egypt, and you shall keep and do these statutes^d.

The Feast of Tabernacles

(Numbers 29:12–40)

13A feast of booths you shall make for yourself seven days, when you gather in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress. 14And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the orphan, and the widow who are within your gates.

15Seven days you shall hold a feast to the LORD your God in the place that the LORD will choose; for the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.

16Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the face of the LORD your God, in the place that He will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths; and they shall not appear before the face of the LORD empty. 17Each man^e according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that He has given you.

Judges and Justice

18Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself in all your gates that the LORD your God gives you, by your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment^f.

19You shall not turn aside judgment; you shall not recognize faces; and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

20Righteousness, righteousness you shall pursue, so that you may live and possess the land that the LORD your God gives you.

Forbidden Forms of Worship

21You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah, any tree, beside the altar of the LORD your God that you make for yourself. 22And you shall not set up for yourself a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.