< Deuteronomy 16 >
1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Aviv Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
Observe the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring, that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God: because in this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.
2 You will sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God with some of the flock and the herd in the place that Yahweh will choose as his sanctuary.
And thou shalt sacrifice the phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there.
3 You will eat no leavened bread with it; seven days will you eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. Do this all the days of your life so that you may call to mind the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
4 No yeast must be seen among you within all your borders during seven days; nor must any of the meat that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day remain until the morning.
No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day in the evening remain until morning.
5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your city gates that Yahweh your God is giving you.
Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God will give thee:
6 Instead, sacrifice at the place that Yahweh your God will choose as his sanctuary. There you will perform the sacrifice of the Passover in the evening at the going down of the sun, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt.
But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there: thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.
7 You must roast it and eat it at the place that Yahweh your God will choose; in the morning you will turn and go to your tents.
And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy dwellings.
8 For six days you will eat unleavened bread; on the seventh day there will be a solemn assembly for Yahweh your God; on that day you must do no work.
Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day, because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work.
9 You will count seven weeks for yourselves; from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you must start counting seven weeks.
Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein thou didst put the sickle to the corn.
10 You must keep the Festival of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the contribution of a freewill offering from your hand that you will give, according as Yahweh your God has blessed you.
And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according to the blessing of the Lord thy God.
11 You will rejoice before Yahweh your God—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your city gates, and the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose for his sanctuary.
And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there:
12 You will call to mind that you were a slave in Egypt; you must observe and do these statutes.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: and thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.
13 You must keep the Festival of Shelters for seven days after you have gathered in the harvest from your threshing floor and from your winepress.
Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barnfloor and of the winepress.
14 You will rejoice during your festival—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.
And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite also and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy gates.
15 For seven days you must observe the festival for Yahweh your God at the place that Yahweh will choose, because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your harvest and all the work of your hands, and you must be completely joyful.
Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt be in joy.
16 Three times in a year all your males must appear before Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Shelters. No one will appear before Yahweh empty-handed;
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. No one shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:
17 instead, every man will give as he is able, that you might know the blessing that Yahweh your God has given to you.
But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.
18 You must make judges and officers within all your city gates that Yahweh your God is giving you; they will be taken from each of your tribes, and they must judge the people with righteous judgment.
Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they may judge the people with just judgment,
19 You must not take justice away by force; you must not show partiality nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.
20 You must follow after justice, after justice alone, so that you may live and inherit the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.
Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
21 You must not set up for yourselves an Asherah, any sort of pole, beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you will make for yourself.
Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the Lord thy God:
22 Neither must you set up for yourself any sacred stone pillar, which Yahweh your God hates.
Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue: which things the Lord thy God hateth.