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 Abib, and keep the passover to the LORD your God: for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you forth 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.

You shall therefore sacrifice the passover to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

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 eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came 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.

And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you in all your coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which you sacrificed the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

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

You may not sacrifice the passover within any of your gates, 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 at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name in, there you shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth 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 roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents.

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 you shall eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God: you shall do no work therein.

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

Seven weeks shall you number to you: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the corn.

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 with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give to the LORD your God, according as the LORD your God has blessed 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, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name 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 slave in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes.

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

You shall observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that you have gathered in your corn and your wine:

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, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.

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 solemn feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD your God shall bless you in all your increase, and in all the works of your hands, therefore you shall surely 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 a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

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

Every man shall give as he is able, 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.

Judges and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, throughout your tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

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.

You shall not wrest judgment; you shall not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift does 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.

That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, 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 you a grove of any trees near to the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.

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

Neither shall you set you up any image; which the LORD your God hates.