Leviticus 23

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 Speak unto the sons of Israel and thou shalt say unto them, As for the appointed seasons of Yahweh, which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations, these, are they—my appointed seasons: —

“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, shall there be a sabbath of sacred rest a holy convocation, no work, shall ye do, —a sabbath, shall it be unto Yahweh, 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 appointed seasons of Yahweh, holy convocations, —which ye 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 of the month, between the evenings, is a Passover unto Yahweh;

[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 this month, is the festival of unleavened cakes unto Yahweh, —seven days—unleavened cakes, shall ye eat.

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—a holy convocation, shall there be to you: no laborious work, shall ye do.

On the first day of that festival, you all must stop your regular work and you must gather together [to worship me].

8 So then ye shall bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh, seven days, —on the seventh day, [shall there be] a holy convocation, no laborious 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 Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

Yahweh also told Moses/me

10 Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them: —When ye enter into the land which, I, am giving you, and ye reap the harvest thereof, then shall ye bring in a sheaf of the first-ripe corn 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 sheaf before Yahweh, that ye may be accepted, —on the morrow of the sabbath, 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 sheaf, a he-lamb without defect, the finest of its year for an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh;

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, meal-offering thereof shall be two-tenth parts of fine meal overflowed with oil, as an altar-flame unto Yahweh a satisfying odour, —and, the drink-offering thereof, [shall be] mine, the fourth 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 roasted corn, nor garden-land grain, shall ye eat, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought in the oblation of your God, —an age-abiding statute unto 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 Then shall ye keep count to yourselves from the morrow of the sabbath, from the day ye brought in the wave sheaf, —seven sabbaths complete, shall there be:

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

16 until on the morrow of the seventh sabbath, ye count fifty days, —then shall ye bring near a new meal-offering unto Yahweh.

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 dwellings, shall ye bring in two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah, of fine meal, shall they be, with leaven, shall they be baked, —first-fruits unto Yahweh.

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 Then shall ye bring near with the bread seven he-lambs without defect of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams, —they shall be an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh, with their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, an altar-flame of satisfying odour unto Yahweh.

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 Then shall ye offer one he-goat, as a sin-bearer, —and two he-lambs, of the first year, as a 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 wave them, with the firstfruits’ bread, as a wave-offering before Yahweh, with the two he-lambs, —holy, shall they be unto Yahweh, 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 make proclamation on this self-same day—a holy convocation, shall it be unto you; no laborious work, shall ye do, —an age-abiding statute in all your dwellings, unto 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 wholly clear the border of thy field when thou reapest, and, the gleanings of thy field, shalt thou not glean, —for the poor and for the sojourner, shalt thou leave them. I—Yahweh, am 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 Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh also told Moses/me

24 Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying: —In the seventh month on the first of the month, shall there be unto you a sacred rest, a trumpet-blowing commemoration 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 laborious work, shall ye do, —but ye shall bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh.

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 Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

27 Surely on the tenth of this seventh month, is, the Day of Propitiation, a holy convocation, shall it be to you, therefore shall ye humble your souls, —and bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh.

“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 work, shall ye do, on this selfsame day, —for a day of propitiation, it is, to put a propitiatory-covering over you before Yahweh 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, whosoever be the person that shall not be humbled on this selfsame day, then shall he be cut off from among his kinsfolk.

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

30 And, whosoever be the person that shall do any work on this selfsame day, then will I destroy that person from the midst of his people.

I will get rid of anyone who does any kind of work on that day.

31 No work, shall ye do, —an age-abiding statute to 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 sacred rest, shall it be unto you, so shall ye humble your souls, —on the ninth of the month in the evening, from evening to evening, shall ye 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 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

34 Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying: —On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, shall be the festival of booths, for seven days, unto Yahweh.

“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 laborious 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 bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh: on the eighth day—a holy convocation, shall there be unto you so shall ye bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh—the closing of the feast, it is, no laborious 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 appointed seasons of Yahweh, which ye shall proclaim, as holy convocations, —for bringing near as an altar-flame unto Yahweh, an ascending-sacrifice, and a meal-offering, a sacrifice and a drink-offering, each day’s appointment 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 Yahweh, and besides your presents, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which ye shall give unto Yahweh.

(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 Surely, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the yield of the land, shall ye celebrate the festival of Yahweh seven days, —on the first day, a sacred rest, and, on the eighth day, a sacred 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 So then ye shall take you, on the first day, boughs of goodly trees, branches, of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and poplars of the ravine, —and shall rejoice before Yahweh 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 So shall ye celebrate it as a festival unto Yahweh, seven days in the year, —a statute age-abiding, to 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 the home-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 To the end that your generations may know, that, in booths, made I the sons of Israel to dwell, when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, —I—Yahweh, am 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 So then Moses declared, the appointed seasons of Yahweh, unto the sons of Israel.

So Moses/I gave to the Israeli people all those instructions concerning the festivals that Yahweh [wanted them to celebrate] each year.