Leviticus 23
1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh said to Moses/me,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations — these are my set feasts.
“Tell the Israeli people about the festivals that I have chosen, the days when you all must gather together [to worship me].”
3 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; no manner of work shall ye do: it is the sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwellings.
“You may work for six days [each week], but on the seventh day you must not do any work. You must rest. It is a sacred/holy day when you must gather together [to worship me]. Wherever you live, you must rest on that day.”
4 These are the set feasts of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons:
“There are festivals that I have established for you. Those will also be sacred/holy days when you must gather together [to worship me].
5 In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the two evenings, is the passover to Jehovah.
[The first festival is] (the Passover/when you remember that I spared your ancestors when I killed all the firstborn Egyptian sons). That festival will begin at twilight/dusk/sunset on the chosen day (each spring/in March or April each year), [and end on the following day].
6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened bread to Jehovah; seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread.
The next day, the Festival of Eating Bread That Has No Yeast will begin. That festival will continue for seven days. During that time, the bread that you eat must be made without yeast.
7 On the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do.
On the first day of that festival, you all must stop your regular work and you must gather together [to worship me].
8 And ye shall present to Jehovah an offering by fire seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do.
On each of the seven days, you must present to me [several animals to be] an offering/sacrifice to be completely burned [on the altar]. On the seventh day, you all must again stop your regular work and gather to worship me.”
9 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also told Moses/me
10 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land that I give unto you, and ye reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest.
to tell the Israeli people [about other festivals]. He said, “When you arrive in the land which I am giving to you, and you harvest your crops [for the first time] there, bring to the priest some of the first grain that you harvest.
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you; on the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
On the day after the [next] Sabbath/rest day, the priest will lift it up [high to dedicate it] to me, in order that I will accept it as your [gift].
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf, a he-lamb without blemish, a yearling, for a burnt-offering to Jehovah;
That same day, you must sacrifice to me a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. You must burn it [on the altar].
13 and the oblation thereof: two tenths of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering by fire to Jehovah for a sweet odour; and the drink-offering thereof, of wine, a fourth part of a hin.
You must also burn an offering of grain. That offering must consist of (three quarts/3.5 liters) of good flour mixed with [olive] oil. The smell [of those things burning] will be very pleasing to me. Along with that, you must also offer one quart/liter of wine, which will be a liquid offering.
14 And ye shall not eat bread, or roast corn, or green ears, until the same day that ye have brought the offering of your God: [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Do not eat any bread or any roasted grain or unroasted grain on that day until after you have brought those offerings to me, your God. You must always obey [LIT] those commands, wherever you live.”
15 And ye shall count from the morning after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven weeks; they shall be complete;
“Seven weeks after the priest offers that grain to me,
16 even unto the morning after the seventh sabbath shall ye count fifty days; and ye shall present a new oblation to Jehovah.
on the next/50th day after he offers it, [each family] must bring to me an offering from the new crop of grain.
17 Out of your dwellings shall ye bring two wave-loaves, of two tenths of fine flour; with leaven shall they be baken; [as] first-fruits to Jehovah.
From your homes, bring two loaves of bread [to the priest]. He will lift them up [high to dedicate them] as an offering to me. Those loaves must be baked from three quarts/liters of good flour that has yeast mixed with it. That bread will be an offering to me from the first wheat that you harvest [each year].
18 And ye shall present with the bread seven he-lambs without blemish, yearlings, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be a burnt-offering to Jehovah with their oblation, and their drink-offerings, an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah.
Along with this bread, you must present to me seven one-year-old lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams. They must all be completely burned [on the altar]. All those offerings, with the grain offering and the wine offering, will be burned, and the smell [of all those things burning] will be very pleasing to me.
19 And ye shall sacrifice one buck of the goats for a sin-offering, and two he-lambs, yearlings, for a sacrifice of peace-offering.
Then you must also kill one male goat to be an offering/sacrifice for your sins, and two one-year-old male lambs to be an offering to enable you to maintain fellowship with me.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave-offering before Jehovah, with the two he-lambs; they shall be holy to Jehovah, for the priest.
The priest will lift up these offerings [high to dedicate them] to me. He will also offer the loaves of bread that were baked from the first wheat that you harvest. Those offerings are sacred to me, but they are for the priests [to eat].
21 And ye shall make proclamation on that same day — a holy convocation shall it be unto you: no manner of servile work shall ye do: [it is] an everlasting statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
On that day, you must stop your regular work and gather to worship me. You must always obey those instructions/commands, and you must obey them wherever you live.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not in thy harvest entirely reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest shalt thou not gather: thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.
“When you harvest the grain in your fields, do not harvest the grain along the edges of the fields, and do not pick up the grain that the harvesters drop. Leave that grain for the poor people and for the foreigners who are living among you. [Do not forget that it is] I, Yahweh your God, [who am commanding those things]!”
23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also told Moses/me
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, shall ye have a rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
to give these instructions/commands to the Israeli people: “[Each year] in September, on the day that I have chosen, you all must celebrate it by completely resting. You must not do any work on that day. When [the priests] blow their trumpets loudly, you all must gather together to worship me.
25 No manner of servile work shall ye do; and ye shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah.
All of you must not do your regular work on that day. Instead, you must present offerings to me that will be burned [on the altar].”
26 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
27 Also on the tenth of this seventh month is the day of the atonement: a holy convocation shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and present an offering by fire to Jehovah.
“You must celebrate a day [on which you request that I] forgive you for the sins that you have committed. That day will be nine days after the festival [when the priests blow] the trumpets. On that day you must (fast/abstain from eating food). You must gather together to worship me and present offerings to me that will be burned [on the altar].
28 And ye shall do no manner of work on that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Jehovah your God.
You must not do any work on that day, because it is the day when the priests will offer sacrifices to me to (atone for/ask me to forgive) your sins.
29 For every soul that is not afflicted on that same day, shall be cut off from among his peoples.
You must expel from your group anyone who does not (fast/abstain from eating food) on that day.
30 And every soul that doeth any manner of work on that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
I will get rid of anyone who does any kind of work on that day.
31 No manner of work shall ye do: [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
You must not work at all! You must always obey those instructions/commands, and you must obey them wherever you live.
32 A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls. On the ninth of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
That day will be a day of complete rest for all of you, and on that day you must (fast/abstain from eating food) [to show that you are sorry for having sinned]. That day of rest and (fasting/abstaining from eating food) will begin on the evening before the day in which you ask me to forgive you for your sins, and it will end on the evening of the following day.”
33 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths seven days to Jehovah.
“Tell the Israeli people that [each year] they must also celebrate a festival of living in temporary shelters. That festival will begin five days after the day in which they request me to forgive them for their sins. It will last for seven days.
35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do.
On the first day of that festival, the people must gather together to worship me, and they must not do any regular work on that day.
36 Seven days ye shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah; on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah: it is a solemn assembly; no manner of servile work shall ye do.
On each of the seven days of the festival, they must present to me an offering [of animals] that will be burned [on the altar]. On the next day, they must gather again to worship me and present to me another animal that will be burned [on the altar]. That also will be a sacred gathering, and they must not work on that day, either.
37 These are the set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present an offering by fire to Jehovah, a burnt-offering, and an oblation, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, everything upon its day;
“[To summarize], those are the festivals that I have appointed. Celebrate those sacred festivals by gathering together to present to me all the various offerings that will be burned [on the altar]—animals that will be burned completely, and offerings of grain, and offerings to enable the Israeli people to maintain fellowship with me, and offerings of wine. Each offering must be brought on the day that I have indicated.
38 besides the sabbaths of Jehovah, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your voluntary offerings, which ye give to Jehovah.
(Those festivals must be celebrated/You must celebrate those festivals) in addition to [worshiping on] the (Sabbath days/days of rest). And all those offerings must be given in addition to the offerings that people personally decide to give, and in addition to the offerings that people make to accompany the solemn promises that they have made, or offerings that people make (voluntarily/because they themselves want to).
39 But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the produce of the land, ye shall celebrate the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day there shall be rest, and on the eighth day there shall be rest.
“[Returning to my instructions about] the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters, you must celebrate this festival after you have harvested all the crops. On the first day and on the last day of that festival, you must rest completely.
40 And ye shall take on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, palm branches and the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days.
But on the first day, you are permitted to pick fruit from trees. Cut palm fronds/branches and other leafy branches from trees or from bushes that grow by the streams, [and make shelters/huts to live in for that week]. Then rejoice in my presence for those seven days.
41 And ye shall celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah seven days in the year: [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations; in the seventh month shall ye celebrate it.
You must celebrate this festival for seven days every year. You must never stop obeying my commands/instructions for that festival. You must celebrate it in September.
42 In booths shall ye dwell seven days; all born in Israel shall dwell in booths;
During the seven days of that festival, all of you people who have been Israelis your entire lives must live in shelters/huts.
43 that your generations may know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
That will remind your descendants that their ancestors lived in shelters [for many years] after I rescued them from Egypt. [Do not forget that] I, Yahweh your God, [am the one who is commanding this].”
44 And Moses declared the set feasts of Jehovah to the children of Israel.
So Moses/I gave to the Israeli people all those instructions concerning the festivals that Yahweh [wanted them to celebrate] each year.
