< Deuteronomy 16 >

1 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.
Take note of the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God: for in the month of Abib the Lord your God took you out of Egypt by night.
2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
The Passover offering, from your flock or your herd, is to be given to the Lord your God in the place marked out by him as the resting-place of his name.
3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, 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.
Take no leavened bread with it; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread, that is, the bread of sorrow; for you came out of the land of Egypt quickly: so the memory of that day, when you came out of the land of Egypt, will be with you all your life.
4 No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.
For seven days let no leaven be used through all your land; and nothing of the flesh which is put to death in the evening of the first day is to be kept through the night till morning.
5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you;
The Passover offering is not to be put to death in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you:
6 but at the place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt.
But in the place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place of his name, there you are to put the Passover to death in the evening, at sundown, at that time of the year when you came out of Egypt.
7 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.
It is to be cooked and taken as food in the place marked out by the Lord: and in the morning you are to go back to your tents.
8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work.
For six days let your food be unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there is to be a holy meeting to the Lord your God; no work is to be done.
9 You shall count for yourselves seven weeks: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to number seven weeks.
Let seven weeks be numbered from the first day when the grain is cut.
10 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, according as the LORD your God blesses you:
Then keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God, with an offering freely given to him from the wealth he has given you:
11 and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
Then you are to be glad before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is with you, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you, in the place marked out by the Lord your God as a resting-place for his name.
12 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes.
And you will keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt: and you will take care to keep all these laws.
13 You shall keep the feast of tents seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress:
You are to keep the feast of tents for seven days after you have got in all your grain and made your wine:
14 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.
You are to keep the feast with joy, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you.
15 You shall keep a feast to the LORD your God seven days in the place which the LORD shall choose; because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
Keep the feast to the Lord your God for seven days, in the place marked out by the Lord: because the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all the produce of your land and all the work of your hands, and you will have nothing but joy.
16 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 tents; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord your God in the place named by him; at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents: and they are not to come before the Lord with nothing in their hands;
17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.
Every man is to give as he is able, in the measure of the blessing which the Lord your God has given you.
18 You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
You are to make judges and overseers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, for every tribe: and they are to be upright men, judging the people in righteousness.
19 You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
You are not to be moved in your judging by a man's position, you are not to take rewards; for rewards make the eyes of the wise man blind, and the decisions of the upright false.
20 You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Let righteousness be your guide, so that you may have life, and take for your heritage the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
21 You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourselves.
Let no holy tree of any sort be planted by the altar of the Lord your God which you will make.
22 Neither shall you set yourself up a pillar; which the LORD your God hates.
You are not to put up stone pillars, for they are hated by the Lord your God.

< Deuteronomy 16 >