Leviticus 23–24

Appointed Festivals

²³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.^*

The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread

³“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a Sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.^*

⁴“These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, that you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.^{* 5}In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,^r there shall be a Passover offering to the Lord,^{* 6}and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.^{* 8}For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^s on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.”

The Offering of First Fruits

⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.^{* 11}He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall raise it. ¹²On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire^t of pleasing odor to the Lord, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.^{* 14}You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.

The Festival of Weeks

¹⁵“And from the day after the Sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count seven full weeks.^{* 16}You shall count until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord.^{* 17}You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.^{* 18}You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire^u of pleasing odor to the Lord. ¹⁹You shall also offer one male goat for a purification offering and two lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being.^{* 20}The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.^*

²²“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.”^*

The Festival of Trumpets

²³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the Israelites, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts.^{* 25}You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.”^v

The Day of Atonement

²⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall humble yourselves^w and present the Lord’s offering by fire,^{x* 28}and you shall do no work during that entire day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. ²⁹For those who do not humble themselves^y during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.^{* 30}And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people.^{* 31}You shall do no work. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. ³²It shall be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves;^z on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”

The Festival of Booths

³³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴“Speak to the Israelites, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and lasting seven days, there shall be the Festival of Booths^a to the Lord.^{* 35}The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. ³⁶Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^b on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^c it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.^*

³⁷“These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire^d—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day^*—³⁸apart from the Sabbaths of the Lord and apart from your gifts and apart from all your votive offerings and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.

³⁹“Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days, a complete rest on the first day and a complete rest on the eighth day.^{* 40}On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic^e trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.^{* 41}You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord lasting seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴²You shall live in booths for seven days; all who are native-born in Israel shall live in booths,^{* 43}so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴Thus Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.^*

The Lamp

²⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.^{* 3}Aaron shall set it up in the tent of meeting, outside the curtain of the covenant, to burn from evening to morning before the Lord regularly; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴He shall set up the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold^f before the Lord regularly.^*

The Bread for the Tabernacle

⁵“You shall take choice flour and bake twelve loaves of it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.^{* 6}You shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the table of pure gold before the Lord.^{g* 7}You shall put pure frankincense with each row, to be a token offering for the bread, as an offering by fire^h to the Lord. ⁸Every Sabbath day Aaron shall set them in order before the Lord regularly as a commitment of the Israelites, as a covenant forever.^{* 9}They shall be for Aaron and his descendants, who shall eat them in a holy place, for they are most holy portions for him from the offerings by fireⁱ to the Lord, a perpetual due.”^*

Blasphemy and Its Punishment

¹⁰A man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian came out among the Israelites, and the Israelite woman’s son and a certain Israelite began fighting in the camp. ¹¹The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name in a curse. And they brought him to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan^*—¹²and they put him in custody, until the decision of the Lord should be made clear to them.^*

¹³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all who were within hearing lay their hands on his head, and let the whole congregation stone him.^{* 15}And speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone who curses God shall incur guilt. ¹⁶One who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as the native-born, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death.^{* 17}Anyone who kills a human being shall be put to death.^{* 18}Anyone who kills an animal shall make restitution for it, life for life.^{* 19}Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: ²⁰fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered.^{* 21}One who kills an animal shall make restitution for it, but one who kills a human being shall be put to death.^{* 22}You shall have one law for the alien and for the native-born, for I am the Lord your God.”^{* 23}Moses spoke thus to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him to death. The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses.