The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,a the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.b

The Sabbath

3 “ ‘There are six days when you may work,c but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,d a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;e wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

23:4–8pp—Ex 12:14–20; Nu 28:16–25; Dt 16:1–8

4 “ ‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:f 5 The Lord’s Passoverg begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.h 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Breadi begins; for seven daysj you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assemblyk and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.l And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’ ”

Offering the Firstfruits

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give youm and you reap its harvest,n bring to the priest a sheafo of the first grain you harvest.p 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lordq so it will be acceptedr on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year olds without defect,t 13 together with its grain offeringu of two-tenths of an ephaha v of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offeringw of a quarter of a hinb of wine.x 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,y until the very day you bring this offering to your God.z This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,a wherever you live.b

The Festival of Weeks

23:15–22pp—Nu 28:26–31; Dt 16:9–12

15 “ ‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,c and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephahd of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruitse to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offeringsf—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offeringc and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering,g together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assemblyh and do no regular work.i This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “ ‘When you reap the harvestj of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.k Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.l I am the Lord your God.’ ”

The Festival of Trumpets

23:23–25pp—Nu 29:1–6

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assemblym commemorated with trumpet blasts.n 25 Do no regular work,o but present a food offering to the Lord.p’ ”

The Day of Atonement

23:26–32pp—Lev 16:2–34; Nu 29:7–11

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh monthq is the Day of Atonement.r Hold a sacred assemblys and deny yourselves,d and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any workt on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.u 30 I will destroy from among their peoplev anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinancew for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath restx for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”y

The Festival of Tabernacles

23:33–43pp—Nu 29:12–39; Dt 16:13–17

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventhz month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernaclesa begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly;b do no regular work.c 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assemblyd and present a food offering to the Lord.e It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“ ‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offeringsf required for each day. 38 These offeringsg are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbathsh ande in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offeringsi you give to the Lord.)

39 “ ‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festivalj to the Lord for seven days;k the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branchesl from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy treesm—and rejoicen before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelterso for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will knowp that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord

24:1–3pp—Ex 27:20–21

24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinanceq for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstandr before the Lord must be tended continually.

5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread,s using two-tenths of an ephaha t for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure goldu before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incensev as a memorialb portionw to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly,x Sabbath after Sabbath,y on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons,z who are to eat it in the sanctuary area,a because it is a most holyb part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Namec with a curse;d so they brought him to Moses.e (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)f 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.g

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.h 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their Godi will be held responsible;j 16 anyone who blasphemesk the name of the Lord is to be put to death.l The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “ ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.m 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitutionn—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.o The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution,p but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.q 22 You are to have the same law for the foreignerr and the native-born.s I am the Lord your God.’ ”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him.t The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.