Deuteronomy 16
1 “[Each year] honor Yahweh our God by celebrating the Passover [Festival] in the month of Abib [in early spring]. It was on a night in that month that Yahweh rescued your ancestors from Egypt.
| שמור את חדש האביב ועשית פסח ליהוה אלהיך כי בחדש האביב הוציאך יהוה אלהיך ממצרים--לילה |
2 [In order to celebrate that festival], go to the place that Yahweh will choose [for you to worship him], and offer [there one young animal] from your cattle or your sheep to be the Passover sacrifice, to honor Yahweh [MTY].
| וזבחת פסח ליהוה אלהיך צאן ובקר במקום אשר יבחר יהוה לשכן שמו שם |
3 [When you eat the Passover meal], the bread that you eat must not have yeast in it. You must eat this kind of bread, which will be called the bread of suffering/misery, for seven days. This is to help you to remember all during the time that you are alive that when your ancestors left Egypt, [where they were suffering because they were slaves], they left very quickly. [They did not put in yeast and wait for the dough to swell up].
| לא תאכל עליו חמץ שבעת ימים תאכל עליו מצות לחם עני כי בחפזון יצאת מארץ מצרים--למען תזכר את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי חייך |
4 [During that festival], you must not have any yeast in any house in your land for seven days. Furthermore, the meat [of the animals] that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day [of the Passover Festival must be eaten during that night]; do not allow any of it to remain until the next day.
| ולא יראה לך שאר בכל גבלך שבעת ימים ולא ילין מן הבשר אשר תזבח בערב ביום הראשון--לבקר |
5 “To honor Yahweh our God, you must offer the Passover sacrifice only at the place that he chooses for you [to worship him]; do not offer that sacrifice in any other town in the land that Yahweh is giving to you. Offer that sacrifice when the sun is setting, at the same time of day that your ancestors [started to] leave Egypt.
| לא תוכל לזבח את הפסח באחד שעריך אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך |
| כי אם אל המקום אשר יבחר יהוה אלהיך לשכן שמו--שם תזבח את הפסח בערב כבוא השמש מועד צאתך ממצרים |
7 Boil [the meat] and eat it at the place [of worship] that Yahweh our God chooses. The next morning, you may return to your tents.
| ובשלת ואכלת במקום אשר יבחר יהוה אלהיך בו ופנית בבקר והלכת לאהליך |
8 Each day for six days the bread that you eat must have no yeast in it. On the seventh day, you must all gather to worship Yahweh our God. [It will be a day of rest]; you must not do any work on that day.”
| ששת ימים תאכל מצות וביום השביעי עצרת ליהוה אלהיך--לא תעשה מלאכה |
9 “[Each year], from the day that you start to harvest your grain, count seven weeks.
| שבעה שבעת תספר לך מהחל חרמש בקמה תחל לספר שבעה שבעות |
10 Then, to honor Yahweh our God, celebrate the Harvest Festival. Do that by bringing to him an offering [of grain]. Yahweh has blessed you [by causing it to grow in your fields during that year]. If you had a big harvest, bring a big offering. If you had a small harvest, bring a small offering.
| ועשית חג שבעות ליהוה אלהיך--מסת נדבת ידך אשר תתן כאשר יברכך יהוה אלהיך |
11 [Each married couple] should be joyful in the presence of Yahweh. Their children, their servants, the descendants of Levi [who are in that town], and the foreigners, orphans, and widows [who are living among you], should also be joyful. Bring those offerings to the place of worship that Yahweh will choose.
| ושמחת לפני יהוה אלהיך אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי אשר בשעריך והגר והיתום והאלמנה אשר בקרבך--במקום אשר יבחר יהוה אלהיך לשכן שמו שם |
12 [“When you celebrate these festivals] by obeying these commands, remember that your ancestors were previously slaves in Egypt.”
| וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים ושמרת ועשית את החקים האלה |
13 “[Each year], after you have threshed all your grain and pressed [the juice from] all your grapes, you must celebrate the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters for seven days.
| חג הסכת תעשה לך שבעת ימים באספך--מגרנך ומיקבך |
14 [Each married couple] along with their children, their servants, the descendants of Levi [who are in that town], and the foreigners, orphans, and widows [who are living among you], should be joyful in the presence of Yahweh.
| ושמחת בחגך אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי והגר והיתום והאלמנה אשר בשעריך |
15 Honor Yahweh our God by celebrating this festival for seven days in the place that Yahweh chooses [for you to worship him]. You should all be joyful, because Yahweh will have blessed your harvest and all the other work that you have done.
| שבעת ימים תחג ליהוה אלהיך במקום אשר יבחר יהוה כי יברכך יהוה אלהיך בכל תבואתך ובכל מעשה ידיך והיית אך שמח |
16 “So, each year all of you Israeli men must gather [with your families] to worship Yahweh our God at the place that he will choose, [to celebrate three festivals]: The Passover Festival, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters. Each of you men must bring [LIT] an offering [for Yahweh to these festivals]
| שלוש פעמים בשנה יראה כל זכורך את פני יהוה אלהיך במקום אשר יבחר--בחג המצות ובחג השבעות ובחג הסכות ולא יראה את פני יהוה ריקם |
17 in proportion to the blessings that Yahweh has given you [during that year].”
| איש כמתנת ידו כברכת יהוה אלהיך אשר נתן לך |
18 “Appoint judges and other officials throughout your tribes, in all the towns [in the land] that Yahweh our God is giving to you. They must judge people fairly/justly.
| שפטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך לשבטיך ושפטו את העם משפט צדק |
19 They must not judge unjustly. They must not favor one person more than another. The judges must not accept bribes, because if a judge accepts a bribe, even if he is wise and honest, it will be very difficult for him to judge fairly [IDM]; [he will do what the person who gave him the bribe wants him to do and declare that] the righteous/innocent people [must be punished].
| לא תטה משפט לא תכיר פנים ולא תקח שחד--כי השחד יעור עיני חכמים ויסלף דברי צדיקם |
20 You must be completely fair and just [DOU], in order that you will enter and occupy the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”
| צדק צדק תרדף--למען תחיה וירשת את הארץ אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך |
21 “When you make an altar to worship Yahweh our God, do not put next to it any wooden statue [that represents] the goddess Asherah.
| לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ אצל מזבח יהוה אלהיך--אשר תעשה לך |
22 And do not set up any [stone] pillar [to worship any idol, because] Yahweh hates them.”
| ולא תקים לך מצבה אשר שנא יהוה אלהיך |
