Deuteronomy 16

The Passover Reviewed

16“Observe the ^amonth of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for ^bin the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ²Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and ^cthe herd, in the ^dplace where the Lord chooses to put His name. ³You shall eat no leavened bread with it; ^eseven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may ^fremember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ^4gAnd no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until ^hmorning.

⁵“You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; ⁶but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover ⁱat twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. ⁷And you shall roast and eat it ^jin the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. ⁸Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and ^kon the seventh day there shall be a ¹sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed

⁹“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. ¹⁰Then you shall keep the ^lFeast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give ^mas the Lord your God blesses you. ¹¹ⁿYou shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ^12oAnd you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed

^13p“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. ¹⁴And ^qyou shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your ²gates. ^15rSeven days you shall keep a sacred 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 surely rejoice.

^16s“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and ^tthey shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷Every man shall give as he is able, ^uaccording to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

Justice Must Be Administered

¹⁸“You shall appoint ^vjudges and officers in all your ³gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. ^19wYou shall not pervert justice; ^xyou shall not ⁴show partiality, ^ynor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and ⁵twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may ^zlive and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

^21a“You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a ⁶wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. ^22bYou shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.