Deuteronomy 16

The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths

1“Observe 1the month of Abib and 23celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 34You shall not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry), so that you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt 5all the days of your life. 4For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in your entire territory, and 6none of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall be left overnight until the morning. 5You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your 7towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6but only 8at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7You shall 9cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and 10on the seventh day there shall be 11a festive assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.

9“12You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10Then you shall 13celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a 14voluntary offering of your hand in a proportional amount, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; 11and you shall 15rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and 16the Levite who is in your 17town, and 18the stranger, the 19orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. 1220You shall also remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and 21comply with these statutes.

13“22You shall 23celebrate the Feast of 24Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14and you shall 25rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the 26orphan, and the widow who are in your 27towns. 15For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

16“28Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and 29they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17Everyone 30shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

18“You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your 31towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 1932You shall not distort justice, 33you shall not 34show partiality; and 35you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. 20Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that 36you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21“37You shall not plant for yourself an 38Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22And 39you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.