Deuteronomy 16

1 You are to observe the month of Abib and to celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, because it was in the month of Abib that the Lord your God led you out of Egypt by night.

Observe the month of new [corn], and you shall sacrifice the passover to the Lord your God; because in the month of new corn you came out of Egypt by night.

2 The Passover sacrifice from your herd or flock must be offered to the Lord your God in the place where the Lord will choose to live with you.

And you shall sacrifice the passover to the Lord your God, sheep and oxen in the place which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name called upon it.

3 Don't eat ordinary bread with it. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast with it, the bread of hardship, because you had to leave Egypt in such a hurry. This way you'll remember day you left Egypt for the rest of your lives.

You shall not eat leaven with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened [bread] with it, bread of affliction, because you came forth out of Egypt in haste; that you may remember the day of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

4 Don't have yeast anywhere in your country for seven days. Don't keep any of the meat that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day until the morning.

Leaven shall not be seen with you in all your borders for seven days, and there shall not be left of the flesh which you shall sacrifice at even on the first day until the morning.

5 Don't sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you.

you shall not have power to sacrifice the passover in any of the cities, which the Lord your God gives you.

6 The Passover sacrifice must be offered by you only at the place where the Lord your God will choose to live with you. You are to do this in the evening at sunset-the same time you left Egypt.

But in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, to have his name called there, you shall sacrifice the passover at even at the setting of the sun, at the time when you came out of Egypt.

7 Cook it and eat it in the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning go back to your tents.

And you shall boil and roast and eat it in the place, which the Lord your God shall choose; and you shall return in the morning, and go to your house.

8 Eat bread without yeast for six days, and the on the seventh day you are to have a holy meeting to honor the Lord your God. You are not to do any work.

Six days shall you eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a holiday, a feast to the Lord your God: you shall not do in it any work, save what must be done by any one.

9 Count off seven weeks from when you start the grain harvest.

Seven weeks shall you number to yourself; when you have begun [to put] the sickle to the corn, you shall begin to number seven weeks.

10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to honor him the Lord your God by giving him a freewill offering, depending on just how much the Lord your God has blessed you.

And you shall keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God, accordingly as your hand has power in as many things as the Lord your God shall give you.

11 You will celebrate in the Lord's presence in the place where he will choose to live with you. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the foreigners, orphans, and widows among you.

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son, and your daughter, your man-servant and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which dwells amongst you, in whatever place the Lord your God shall choose, that his name should be called there.

12 Don't forget that you were once slaves in Egypt, and be careful to follow these regulations.

And you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and you shall observe and do these commands.

13 Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days once you have finished threshing your grain and pressing your grapes.

You shall keep for yourself the feast of tabernacles seven days, when you gather in [your produce] from your corn-floor and your wine-press.

14 Enjoy your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the foreigners, orphans, and widows among you.

And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, your man-servant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow that is in your cities.

15 Celebrate this Festival for seven days to honor the Lord your God in the place he will choose, because the Lord your God will bless your whole harvest and everything you do, so you will be really happy.

Seven days shall you keep a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God shall choose for himself; and if the Lord your God shall bless you in all your fruits, and in every work of your hands, then you shall rejoice.

16 All your men must come before the Lord your God in the place He will choose three times every year: the Festival of Bread without Yeast, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters. No one should come before the Lord without an offering.

Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord shall choose in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: you shall not appear before the Lord your God empty.

17 Each of you is to bring whatever gift you can, depending on how much the Lord your God has blessed you.

Each one according to his ability, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you.

18 Choose judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town that the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.

You shall make for yourself judges and officers in your cities, which the Lord your God gives you in [your] tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgement:

19 Don't pervert justice or show favoritism. Don't take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the wise and twists the words of the truthful.

they shall not wrest judgement, nor favour persons, nor receive a gift; for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

20 Always do what is right and just, so that you may go on living, occupying the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall justly pursue justice, that you may live, and go in and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you.

21 Don't ever set up a wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you build for the Lord your God,

You shall not plant for yourself a grove; you shall not plant for yourself any tree near the altar of your God.

22 and don't make for yourselves an idolatrous stone pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

You shall not set up for yourself a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.