Leviticus 23
1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh said to Moses/me,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even 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 a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Sabbath to YHWH 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 YHWH, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
“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 day of the month in the evening, is YHWH's Passover.
[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 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to YHWH. Seven days you shall 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 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
On the first day of that festival, you all must stop your regular work and you must gather together [to worship me].
8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.'"
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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also told Moses/me
10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to 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 YHWH, 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 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to YHWH.
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 The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to YHWH for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be 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 You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is 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 "'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed:
“Seven weeks after the priest offers that grain to me,
16 even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to YHWH.
on the next/50th day after he offers it, [each family] must bring to me an offering from the new crop of grain.
17 You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to YHWH.
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 You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to YHWH, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to YHWH.
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 You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
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 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before YHWH, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to YHWH 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 You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever 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 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am YHWH 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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also told Moses/me
24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, 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 You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH.'"
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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
27 "However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH.
“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 You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before YHWH 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 whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.
You must expel from your group anyone who does not (fast/abstain from eating food) on that day.
30 Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
I will get rid of anyone who does any kind of work on that day.
31 You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever 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 It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep 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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
34 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to YHWH.
“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: you shall do no regular work.
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 you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
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 appointed feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to YHWH, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own 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 YHWH, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to YHWH.
(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 "'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of YHWH seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn 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 You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before YHWH 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 You shall keep it a feast to YHWH seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.
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 You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-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 made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am YHWH 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 Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of YHWH.
So Moses/I gave to the Israeli people all those instructions concerning the festivals that Yahweh [wanted them to celebrate] each year.
