Leviticus 23

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, —these are my 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 may work be done; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; no kind of work shall ye do thereon; it is the sabbath [holy] unto the Lord 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 feasts of the Lord, the 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 On the fourteenth day of the first month, toward evening, is the passover-lamb to be offered unto the Lord.

[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 the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days must 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 there shall be a holy convocation unto you; no servile work shall ye do thereon.

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 offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: on the seventh day is a holy convocation; no 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 the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also told Moses/me

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye shall have come into the land which I give unto you, and reap the harvest thereof: then shall ye bring an omer full of the first 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 omer before the Lord, that it may be favorably received for you; on the morrow after the holy day shall the priest 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 on the day when ye wave the omer, a male sheep without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto the Lord.

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 meat-offering thereof shall be two tenth parts of fine flour mingled with oil, as an offering made by fire unto the Lord, for a sweet savor; with its drink-offering of wine, the 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 neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, shall ye eat, until the self-same day, until ye have brought the offering of your God: it shall be a statute forever 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 unto you from the morrow after the holy day, from the day that ye bring the omer of the wave-offering, [that] it be seven complete weeks:

“Seven weeks after the priest offers that grain to me,

16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall then offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord.

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 own habitations shall ye bring two wave-loaves of two tenth parts; of fine flour shall they be; leavened shall they be baked; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord.

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 offer with the bread seven sheep without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt-offering unto the Lord, with their meat-offering, with their drink-offerings, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

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 he-goat for a sin-offering, and two sheep of the first year 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 make with them together with the bread of the first-fruits a waving before the Lord, together with the two sheep; holy shall they be to the Lord 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 proclaim on the self-same day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you; no servile work shall ye do; it shall be a statute for ever 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 cut away altogether the corners of thy field when thou reapest, and the gleaning of thy harvest shalt thou not gather up; unto the poor, and to the stranger shalt thou leave them: I am the Lord 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 the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also told Moses/me

24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall ye have a rest, a [day of] memorial of sounding the cornet, 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 servile work shall ye do: and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

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 the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

27 But on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement, a holy convocation shall it be unto you, and ye shall fast; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

“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 no manner of work shall ye do on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord 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 whatsoever person it be that fasteth not on this same day, shall be cut off from among his people.

You must expel from your group anyone who does not (fast/abstain from eating food) on that day.

30 And if there be any person that doth any work on this same day, then will I destroy the same person 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 shall he a statute for ever 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 it shall be unto you, and ye shall fast: on the ninth day of the month at evening [shall ye begin], from evening unto evening 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 the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.

“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 shall be a holy convocation; no 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 shall ye offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, it is a solemn assembly; no 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 feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, burnt-offering, and meat-offering, sacrifice, and drink-offerings, every thing 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 Beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill-offerings, which ye may give unto the Lord.

(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 fruit of the land, shall ye keep the feast of the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a rest, and on the eighth day shall be a 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 unto yourselves on the first day the fruit of the tree hadar, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of the myrtle-tree, and willows of the brook: and ye shall rejoice before the Lord 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 keep it as a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year: it shall be a statute for ever 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 that are Israelites born 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 In order that your generations may know, that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord 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 feasts of the Lord unto 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.