Deuteronomy 16

Modern

Literal

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

¹Observe the month of Abib^a and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

¹Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to YHWH your God, for in the month of Abib YHWH your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

²You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.

²And you shall sacrifice the Passover to YHWH your God, of the flock or of the herd, in the place where YHWH chooses for His Name to dwell there.

³You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

³You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for in haste you came out of the land of Egypt—so that you may remember the day of your coming out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

⁴No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.

⁴And there shall not be seen among you leaven in all your territory seven days, nor shall remain overnight any of the flesh that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day until the morning.

⁵You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.

⁵You may not sacrifice the Passover within one of your gates that YHWH your God gives you.

⁶You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.

⁶For only at the place where YHWH your God chooses for His Name to dwell, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.

⁷And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.

⁷And you shall roast it and eat it in the place that YHWH your God chooses, and you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents.

⁸For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

⁸Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a sacred assembly to YHWH your God; you shall do no work.

The Feast of Weeks

⁹You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

⁹Seven weeks you shall count for yourself—from beginning the sickle among the grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.

¹⁰And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks^a to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,

¹⁰And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to YHWH your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as YHWH your God blesses you.

¹¹and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹¹And you shall rejoice before the face of YHWH your God—you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow who is among you, at the place where YHWH your God chooses for His Name to dwell there.

¹²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.

¹²And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and do these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles

¹³You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles^a for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

¹³You shall observe the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.

¹⁴And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹⁴And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow who is within your gates.

¹⁵For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

¹⁵Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to YHWH your God in the place that YHWH chooses, because YHWH your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

¹⁶Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread,^a the Feast of Weeks,^b and the Feast of Tabernacles.^c No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

¹⁶Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the face of YHWH your God in the place that He chooses: At the Feast of the Unleavened, and at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. And they shall not appear before the face of YHWH emptily—

¹⁷Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

¹⁷a man as he is able, according to the blessing of YHWH your God that He has given you.

Judges and Justice

¹⁸You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

¹⁸You shall appoint judges and officers to you within all your gates that YHWH your God gives to you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

¹⁹You shall not twist justice; you shall not show partiality nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

²⁰Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

²⁰Justice and justice alone you shall pursue, that you may live and inherit the land that YHWH your God is giving to you.

Forbidden Forms of Worship

²¹Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

²¹You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah pole of any tree near the altar of YHWH your God that you build for yourself.

²²and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.

²²And you shall not set up a sacred pillar, which YHWH your God hates.